Chelsea manager Frank Lampard has been advised to seal the transfer of a “little magician” to replace Eden Hazard.
That’s the advice given to the Blues by former Premier League manager Tim Sherwood, who has also praised the work done by Lampard since he took over at Stamford Bridge in the summer.
Chelsea have started well this season but are currently on a worrying run of form that seems to indicate more work is needed to strengthen this squad.
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Lampard’s side have won just two of their last seven games in all competitions, and one imagines the club will now be active in January now that their transfer ban has been lifted.
This saw Chelsea unable to make signings in the summer, which would be far from ideal in normal circumstances and certainly a lot worse considering they lost Eden Hazard to Real Madrid.
Sherwood thinks that’s where Lampard now needs to strengthen, as he urges the CFC manager to go out and find another “little magician” with a similar playing style to the Belgium international.
That’s easier said than done, but here’s what Sherwood had to say on Chelsea’s transfer plans.
“I think Lampard is very honest with his appraisal of the game. He doesn’t try to hide behind any stats or anything,” Sherwood told Premier League Productions, as quoted by the Metro.
“He knows his team should be beating the teams they’re losing against. They’ve lost four of the last five. It’s easy this job when you’re winning every week.
“But it’s when the results start going the other way and people start asking questions of you in the media and from upstairs by the hierarchy, because they certainly will be.
“He’s not getting a complete free ride here Frank. There will be objectives and that will be to finish in the top four.
“Now he’s looking like he’s holding onto that, they’re three points clear of Tottenham now, massive game next weekend.
“They’re asking questions now so Frank, I sense a wee bit of self-preservation there in his interviews. We’ve all done it, I was a master of that.
“And listen, he needs to put it right. Now’s the test of your managerial credentials.
“When things start going wrong at a big club, everyone’s looking at the back of your head in that technical area and saying: ‘Do something, what you going to do now? Let’s see it.’
“I think they will go into the transfer market now, I think they need to find a little magician like Eden Hazard.”