Chelsea boss Frank Lampard is to be handed a summer transfer budget of over £150m to make up for the lack of any new faces in January, according to reports.
The Blues were in the hunt for a striker throughout the transfer window to support Tammy Abraham but failed to land any targets, meaning Olivier Giroud did not get a move away from Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea reportedly held a firm interest in Lyon’s Moussa Dembele before other claims suggested that Paris Saint-Germain’s Edinson Cavani and Napoli forward Dries Mertens were on the club’s radar.
Lampard said he was “surprised” to have seen Dembele linked with Chelsea but according to the Evening Standard, the Frenchman is the Blues’ top centre-forward target for the summer.
Indeed, Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas insisted that Dembele was not for sale in January but the Standard claims that the 23-year-old will be available in the summer for a fee likely to be over £60m.
The newspaper also says that RB Leipzig striker Timo Werner – who has been heavily linked with Liverpool – is also on Chelsea’s shortlist.
The German has been in sensational form this season and recently admitted that he is interested by the prospect of playing in the Premier League.
A third name on Chelsea’s transfer list is Borussia Dortmund’s Jadon Sancho. The England international has enjoyed an astronomical rise over the past few seasons and a good showing at Euro 2020 could reportedly see his value rocket to over £100m.
Chelsea are said to be willing to match that price, but if a deal is not possible, Crystal Palace’s Wilfried Zaha and Ajax’s Hakim Ziyech are also targets.
Elsewhere, Chelsea midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek has made his latest step to full recovery following the Achilles injury he suffered in May.
Loftus-Cheek has not featured since a post-season friendly in Boston, but played in a behind-closed-doors game against Brentford B on Tuesday.
Chelsea said on the club’s website: “As part of his rehabilitation he played an hour at Cobham for our development squad this morning.
“He will continue to build up his fitness in the coming weeks.”
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