Former Chelsea defender Mario Melchiot has warned Chelsea and Frank Lampard not to spend for the sake of spending when they get a chance to add some new names to the squad in the January transfer window.
Despite a youthful side, Chelsea finds themselves fourth in the Premier League and through to the last 16 of the Champions League. Lampard has surprised many with his start at Chelsea since replacing Maurizio Sarri as head coach in the summer. The former midfielder has placed faith in the club’s young players, including academy graduates Tammy Abraham, Mason Mount, and Fikayo Tomori.
Last week FIFA confirmed they had cut the Blues’ transfer ban in half after their appeal to CAS, meaning they can sign players from January
But Melchiot says his old club must be careful not to ruin what they have started under Lampard
Speaking on the Sports Breakfast, the Dutchman said: “If you look at those young players and the way they’ve developed…
“If you look at Tammy Abraham, at the beginning of the season there was a discussion about who would lead the line, and he managed to get himself a number of goals that stopped the discussions almost straight away between him and Olivier Giroud.
“Mason Mount is one of those players where when you watch him you forget how young he is, and one of the biggest surprises for me was Christian Pulisic.
“He came in for a lot of money but he’s a young kid coming to a new league. In Germany, he was struggling on the bench towards the end and now he’s had to really work hard to become a starting player again at Chelsea, and now he’s scoring goals and creating chances for other players.
Despite speculation Lampard has insisted that Chelsea will not abandon their youth project and has vowed that he will not sell the likes of Abraham, Tomori, and Mount. Several of Chelsea’s academy products have signed new deals this season with reports emerging that Tomori is now close to agreeing on a new deal with the club.
