Chelsea boss Frank Lampard must sign a new striker this summer, according to his former England team-mate Rio Ferdinand. Lampard wanted to bring in a frontman during the January transfer window but was unsuccessful in his pursuit. Chelsea have already made their first signing ahead of the summer, with attacking midfielder Hakim Ziyech set to join from Ajax.
But following Tuesday’s Champions League last-16 first leg loss to Bayern Munich, Ferdinand says Chelsea need more than that to reach the levels Lampard wants.
And the pundit says a striker must be the next signing that comes through the Stamford Bridge doors when the window opens.
“[Lampard’s] going to have to implement his own philosophy on the team but also he’s got to dip into that transfer market and he’s actually got to start making some waves there, given that opportunity in the next window that comes up,” Ferdinand said on BT Sport.
“[They need to strengthen] up front, up front they do. They’ve got Tammy Abraham who does score, he’s been scoring goals, he’s young.
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“But I went to the training ground, Frank Lampard the manager is the most prominent, loudest voice on the training ground.
“Barking orders, authority was there in his voice from the word go.
“I was so impressed with the way he coached the team, it surprised me yeah.
“I was really looking forward to see what he was going to be like as a manager, as a coach on the training field and I’ve got nothing but positives to say about that experience of seeing that.”
“A lot of players there either haven’t played Champions League knockout football, have played Europa League which is a big difference, or have played it a few years ago and not at Chelsea when we were getting to semi-finals and finals.
“When you have an eye-opener like tonight, the only answer, young or old, is to not look at any other part of the team but yourself.”