Lampard on Chelsea trio’s futures, possible signings, Dembele, Newcastle – and news on Loftus-Cheek

Frank Lampard spoke at a news conference ahead of Chelsea’s game against Newcastle. Here’s some of what the Blues boss had to say.

On possible signings and being linked with the likes of Moussa Dembele

“There is nothing imminent. There aren’t people waiting in the wings. There is no news on that front.

“And I won’t talk about any individuals. There is nothing imminent – they’re not about to walk through the door.

“What remains the same is that the window is open and if there’s anything we can do to improve us then we will attempt to do it.

“We’ll keep working while the window’s open. There may be news. I’m not closing the door as such, because I’ll always want to improve us, but it has to be right.”

On reports West Ham want Ross Barkley on loan

“There’s no talk here of Ross Barkley going anywhere. He’s our player, he’s played the last couple of games and done very well.

“Ross hasn’t featured as much this year but I’ve got a lot of faith in Ross.

“So that (West Ham’s reported interest) was just news that I heard like everybody else and I’ve absolutely no feeling towards it (Barkley going). I’m very happy with him.”

On Olivier Giroud possibly joining Inter Milan

“We know there may be something that could happen. The good thing about Ollie is that he’s so experienced and I have a really good relationship with him, as does the club.

“If all circumstances are right then that may happen. But it’s not, and whilst it’s not he’s our player.”

On speculation about Willian’s future

“Willian is not going anywhere. We know his contract is up at the end of the season. He’s in conversations with the club, which are still ongoing.”

On Reece James’ new contract

“I rate him very highly. I knew him as a youth player in the academy here and saw him on loan last year do fantastically well at Wigan.

“I admired him a lot and having worked with him I feel the same. He’s got his foot into the first team and I think there’s a lot more to come from Reece James.

“He’s a really talented player. He wants to learn and improve and he has that talent, so it’s great for the club that he’s signed for so long.”

On Christian Pulisic

“Hopefully he’ll be back at the other end of that break, which comes in line with how we expected him to be.”

On Ruben Loftus-Cheek

“He’s actually training now with the Under-16s. He’ll train with the Under-18s and progress to the Under-23s in a pretty short space of time.

“The sooner he can be back training with us the better, but obviously we train at a real intensity.

“But there’s a different look on Ruben’s face – more smiley and happy, which I absolutely understand. It’s been tough for him.

“The good thing is that he’s not one that walks around with his head down. But it (being injured) is a lonely place.

“He’s integrating more towards us now, which is great news for all of us because we’ve missed a hugely influential player for us.

“If we can be training with us after the break – it might still take some competitive games because of the nature of the injury – but he might not be far away.”

On whether Tammy Abraham can replace Harry Kane at the Euros

“With England, the competitive nature of the squads and how it goes on form, you should never look forward a few months and say anything or expect anything.

“The way he’s playing at the minute, of course he’s hugely in contention for that. But he has to sustain that performance and hopefully improve it.”

On facing Newcastle

“It is an opportunity but every game in the Premier League remains as vital as the others.

“Even though we have good away form, every game brings new challenges and going to Newcastle – I knew it as a player and know it now – the support of the crowd, the emotion of the crowd, the very organised team they are, the manager they have, and also the threats that they have where they’ve got some really good results this season, we’ll be taking nothing lightly and not expecting anything because of our away form.

“We have to take this game head-on, as we have to do with these games coming up now because it’s massively important that we keep our focus.

“We certainly do not underestimate Newcastle and we shouldn’t because of the season we’re having.”