A case for the defence: How can Chelsea strengthen their backline

After the joy of leading Chelsea back to the top four of the English Premier League in his first season as manager, Frank Lampard sets his sights on improving. The former England midfielders’ job is made all the easier by the fact the Londoners are now free to spend in the transfer market again.

There were suggestions in the national press than Lampard wouldn’t have access to the same kind of spending power granted to some of his predecessors but that doesn’t seem to be the case.

Chelsea have been linked to some high-profile players since they secured a return to Champions League football and the feeling amongst followers of the club is that the gaffer will be brave in the market as he aims to return his club to the summit of English football.

Bookies write off a title challenge

It’s exciting times for Chelsea fans as the club enters a new era but bookmakers have been quick to write off Chelsea’s chances of winning the Premier League next season. The club is currently fourth in the championship odds according to football juggernaut 888sport and that will attract the attention of fans and value hunters.

Liverpool have been priced as favourites to win two Premier League crowns on the bounce with the Reds top of the ante-post list. Manchester City rank as the main contenders as Pep Guardiola’s men aim to wrestle the crown back from Anfield.

Outside of the top two and it appears to be anyone’s guess where the challenge will come from. Tottenham and Arsenal should improve while Manchester United now have a solid foundation on which to launch their challenge.

Werner boosts attacking options

Chelsea finished fourth in the division last season with their stats reading 20 wins and six draws against a dozen defeats, scoring 69 goals, and conceding 54. The 66 points on the board meant they ended level with Manchester United in third and four clear of Leicester City in fifth, the Foxes narrowly missing out on a place in UEFA’s elite competition next term.

The major negative of the previous campaign, however, was just how far Chelsea were off the pace set by Liverpool. The Reds racked up 99 points, 33 more than Chelsea.

It remains to be seen which areas of his team Lampard will aim to improve on, but fans can clues from the stats of last season. Manchester City set the scoring bar with 102 goals, 33 more than Chelsea so options in attack must be sought.

Tammy Abraham was the club’s leading scorer last season on 18 goals, seven more than Willian and Christian Pulisic. The fact Raheem Sterling hit 31 goals, Gabriel Jesus and Sergio Aguero 23 shows the size of the task ahead of Lampard. At Liverpool, they had Mo Salah on 23 goals and Sadio Mane on 20.

At least one prolific goal scorer is needed if Chelsea are to move from contenders to champions. With the club involved in the race for Premier League and Champions League success the manager could be willing to go for strength in numbers in his attack.

Timo Werner has already signed from RB Leipzig on a five-year deal, but he won’t be the last new face to arrive at Stamford Bridge.

Requilon interests Lampard

Switching attention to the opposite end of the field and the Chelsea defence leaked a total of 54 goals which was the highest number of the top 10 teams in the Premier League.

The Blues conceded as many goals as Brighton who ended down in 15^th and spent the second half of the campaign battling against relegation. The fact Watford, who were relegated to the Championship, conceded only 10 more than Chelsea certainly won’t be lost on Lampard and his coaching staff.

Who will they turn to as they attempt to tighten things up and improve their chances of challenging for the top spot? Sergio Reguilon has been heavily linked to the club in the last few weeks and there seems to be more to that one that the usual summer rumours aimed at filling newspaper space.

The 23-year-old Spaniard is currently on the books of Real Madrid but gained valuable first-team experience last season when on loan at Sevilla.

Lampard is said to be a big admirer of the ambitious young left-back, but he faces competition from other major clubs, including Italian Serie A sides Napoli and Lazio.

Mikel Arteta is also said to be interested in bringing the defender to the Emirates Stadium as he aims to build on last season’s FA Cup win and fire the Gunners back into the Premier League top four. Could the London rivals be pulled into a bidding war? Surely Chelsea would fancy their chances when push came to shove there.

Gimenez preferred to Rice

Another La Liga based defender with admirers at Stamford Bridge is Atletico Madrid’s Jose Gimenez, but his arrival may have to wait until Chelsea offload at least one of their fullbacks from last season. The fact Gimenez has been scouted by the blues proves just how serious they are and also the level of player the team have their eye on.

The 25-year-old from Uruguay has made over 100 appearances for his current employers and has been capped 58 times for his country, scoring a total of 11 goals for both teams.

That news suggests Chelsea are no longer keen on securing the services of Declan Rice who had previously been linked. If they do want to tempt Gimenez to the English capital, they will have to start the bidding at around £60m although that could rise significantly as there is already a £110m release clause written into his transfer.

Surely Chelsea wouldn’t get in that deep for a player untested in the Premier League and one that could take a while to settle into the culture.