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Chelsea news LIVE: Lampard eight-man transfer list, Dembele talks, Sancho Man Utd battle
Chelsea have had their transfer ban overturned and will now look to make signings in January as Frank Lampard draws up list of targets.
Chelsea: Jadon Sancho transfer rumours addressed by pundits
Chelsea news LIVE updates
Saturday, December 7
Jose Mourinho not concerned
Jose Mourinho is not worried about Chelsea’s transfer ban being lifted.
“I’m not worried with that,” he said. “First, I’m not looking to the distance from Chelsea.
“Between us and Chelsea [there are] still two or three teams, so we cannot look so high and so far.
“Second – even with the transfer ban lifted, it is not easy to get better players than they have. They have very good players.
“Even with the ban gone and a hypothetical multi-million budget, I’m not sure they can get much better players than they have.”
Jadon Sancho to Chelsea exclusive
Chelsea have put England striker Jadon Sancho at the top of their January shopping list after their transfer ban was reduced on Friday.
Manager Frank Lampard straight away pledged that he is ready to start spending the £150million that the club have in their transfer kitty after not spending last summer, and selling Eden Hazard for £88m to Real Madrid.
But though Chelsea have made contact with Borussia Dortmund about England striker Sancho, 19, they have told the Bundesliga club they will not be held to ransom over the fee – and will not pay the £100m the German club want.
Chelsea have other targets now they are free to spend after the decision by the Court of Arbitration for Sport on Friday to reduce the FIFA ban from two windows to one, which they served last summer.
Frank Lampard has eight-man shortlist
Chelsea manager Frank Lampard has drawn up an eight-man transfer shortlist, Express Sport understands. The Blues learned on Friday that their two-window ban will be halved after an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
FIFA had imposed the embargo back in February due to rules breaches regarding the signing of young players but the punishment has been reduced to a single window.
Given that was served in the summer, Chelsea will be able to resume transfer business in the upcoming January transfer market.
Lampard has admitted that the London club can now “look at the market going forward” with internal discussions likely to follow as they set out plans for the winter window.
Some reports have indicated that the Chelsea manager will be given £150million by owner Roman Abramovich in January.
Lampard’s wish list consists of Crystal Palace forward Wilfried Zaha, Leicester defender Ben Chilwell, Bournemouth defender Nathan Ake, RB Leipzig striker Timo Werner, CSKA Moscow forward Fedor Chalov and Lyon’s Moussa Dembele – as well as Ajax midfielder Hakim Ziyech.
Ousmane Dembele talks
Chelsea are holding talks with Barcelona star Ousmane Dembele’s agent after having their FIFA transfer ban reduced following an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
That is according to Italian football journalist Nicolo Schira, who claims that Dembele’s representatives were in contact with the Blues’ director Marina Granovskaia last week.
Dembele rose to prominence during his one-year stint at Dortmund where he scored 10 goals in 50 appearances.
The winger then moved to Barcelona in 2017 on a staggering £135.5million move.
However, the 22-year-old has struggled to stand out at the Nou Camp with just 19 goals in 74 appearances.