Chelsea manager Frank Lampard (Photo: VCG)
Chelsea will not go "crazy" when their transfer ban is lifted in January because the young players who have been given their chance to shine are improving all the time, coach Frank Lampard said Tuesday.
"I am calm about this window, I am very calm about it," Lampard said after Chelsea secured their spot in the last 16 of the Champions League.
"We are improving. Even the little bumps of the past two weeks are just part of the process. I believe in what we've got now. I don't think we're going to be crazy just because the ban has been lifted."
Chelsea were cleared to sign players in the January transfer window last week after the Court of Arbitration for Sport halved a ban imposed last February for breaching rules on the international transfer and registration of players under 18.
Yet after goals from Tammy Abraham and Cesar Azpilicueta earned them the victory which guarantees Champions League last-16 action in the New Year, Lampard did not sound as if he felt he must bring in expensive reinforcements in January.
The performances of young players who have established themselves as regular first team starters, like Abraham, Mason Mount, Reece James and Fikayo Tomori, have given the former England international plenty of reasons to keep faith in them.
"As we move forward and we want to improve the squad it will be done with a view to what do we have and how to get better," Lampard said.
"And I think, if anything, those sorts of challenges for the young players will be the ones that they stand up to."
