Lampard considers ambitious bid for Samuel Chukwueze during the January transfer window

CHELSEA manager Frank Lampard is considering an audacious move to bring Super Eagles and Villarreal winger Samuel Chukwueze to Stamford Bridge during the forthcoming January transfer window after being given the go-ahead to make purchases.

Earlier this month, Fifa lifted its ban on Chelsea that prevented the club from making any new signings following earlier infractions in the transfer market. Now that he has the go-ahead to make purchases and the Chelsea board have given him a transfer budget of £150m, Mr Lampard is lining up several big transfers this January.

He is particularly eyeing offensive players, with wingers being his main priority. Chelsea currently sit fourth in the English Premier League table but have only scored 31 goals compared with 47, 40 and 42 for Manchester City, Leicester City and Liverpool respectively, the three teams above them.

With creativity considered to be the bane of Chelsea's current woes, Mr Lampard is eyeing several wingers including Borrussia Dortmund’s Jadon Sancho, Crystal Palace’s Wilfried Zaha and Bayer Leverkusen’s Leon Bailey. With Chukwueze considered one of the hottest wingers in Europe at the moment, very similar to Dutch ace Arjen Robben, he is high on the list of Chelsea targets.

Chukwueze, who has a release clause of €63m in his contract, was close to moving to the Premier League in 2017 to play for Arsenal before he joined Villarreal. So far this season, he has scored 11 career goals in 54 appearances for Villarreal’s first team and has provided five assists.