Chelsea boss Frank Lampard appeared to throw into doubt their hopes of signing Kai Havertz from Bayer Leverkusen with the clubs at a stalemate in the negotiations for the German midfielder.
Lampard was speaking after watching his side lose 4-1 to Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena to exit the Champions League in the round of 16.
Chelsea had no answer to Bayern, who became just the second ever team to win their first eight Champions League games of the season.
It was the first time Chelsea had conceded seven goals in a two-legged tie and the fourth time in a row they had crashed out of the competition in last 16.
Over the season, Chelsea conceded 79 goals in all competitions, showing Lampard that defensive reinforcements will be needed.
But following the attacking signings of Hakim Ziyech and Timo Werner, Havertz has been strongly linked with a move to Stamford Bridge.
Pressed on what Chelsea are planning in the transfer market, Lampard told BT Sport: “We will look at that. We have worked at it already. From having a transfer ban you feel the fact that other clubs have spent and improved and recruitment is a big part of this game.
“When you look through this team, nights like tonight in a footballing sense, show me a lot.
“The season has ended. It is a very quick turnaround but now is the time to see what areas we can improve.”
“They performed alright. Difficult to say after a 4-1 defeat, not happy but when you concede two early we did get back into the game after that,” he added.
“When you match our Champions League appearances to theirs, I saw lots of good things in the team and also some of the bad we have seen this season.
“We had individual errors that gave them goals and at this level that will finish you off.
“It is a work in progress. It is not the norm for Chelsea. We lost the best player in the league pretty much in Eden Hazard.
“People would not normally commend coming fourth for Chesea, we want more but the feeling is we have achieved something with the group we have. Now is the time to think where we can improve.”