Lampard ‘has ideas’ for possible Chelsea signings

Frank Lampard has hinted that he would like to add to his Chelsea squad but might need to offload players first.

Several of Lampard’s fringe players have been tipped to leave Stamford Bridge during this month’s transfer window.

That could pave the way for the club to enter the market in the coming weeks.

Blues boss Lampard said: “I’m not absolutely sure. I have ideas. We have a big squad.

“We’ll have to see if that changes – if there are opportunities for players that aren’t playing so much.

“That will be a conversation between player, club and myself. Then we’ll see whether we can strengthen in the right way.

“But we’re not jumping up and down to do so. My focus this year is purely on work, because we have young players.

“But we’ll see. It’s a long month.”

Chelsea without James against City

Meanwhile, Reece James has been ruled out of Chelsea’s game against Manchester City.

James, who has recently had a knee injury, is now nursing a hamstring problem.

Hakim Ziyech is back in training following his hamstring injury, although a decision has yet to be taken on whether he will be involved on Sunday.

Ziyech has not featured for the Blues since suffering a hamstring injury in the 3-1 win over Leeds on 5 December.

Lampard said: “Hakim is fit to train and has trained for two or three days, so I will have to make that decision in terms of if he is fit to start.

“Other than that, Reece is out. He has a small hamstring problem.”