Lampard on Chelsea duo’s futures, striker chase, bad injury news, Lofus-Cheek latest – and more
Frank Lampard spoke at a news conference ahead of Chelsea’s game against Burnley. Here’s some of what the Blues boss had to say.
On Christian Pulisic’s injury
“Christian Pulisic is out. He’ll be out for a few weeks. He was injured in training.
“It’s an injury in the adductor. It’s a tendon injury so it’s disappointing for us and we’ll have to see how quickly he recovers because it’s quite a nasty injury and he was in pain when it happened.
“It is a damaging miss because he’s a good player, we need competition in wide areas and he was in good form.
“Before Christmas he was reporting a bit of tiredness. I was relying on him a lot in some games. It’s why he came out of the team.
“I was worried about injury. That’s not just my own opinion – it’s when I speak with sports science and medical (departments) and I have to make judgements on that, which I made over Christmas.
“That’s why I was worried this injury may come. I’m not a mind reader or psychic, but it came. It’s disappointing, because he’s the type of player that can make things happen.”
On Marcos Alonso
“Marcos Alonso is recovering. He trained today (Friday) but won’t be ready for tomorrow.”
On Olivier Giroud possibly joining Inter Milan
“If it’s right for everybody – and first and foremost that’s us the club, because he’s under contract – then we’ll look at whether he can leave.
“He’s been a great professional here, trained brilliantly – even this season, without many opportunities – so I hold him in a lot of high regard for that. But we still have to make a decision for the football club and nothing’s done yet.”
On whether a striker will have to be signed before Giroud can go
“Not necessarily.”
On reports Chelsea are chasing Moussa Dembele
“He’s a player I know and a player the club know. But I’m surprised to see his name pop up so regularly when it’s not popping up in my conversations so regularly, to be brutally honest, and there’s quite a few players in the last week that I could say the same about.
“I don’t want to go cut and dry on anybody, but it’s not one that we’ve been openly talking about – and if there’s a decision I will be a big part of it.”
On possible new signings
“Of course we’re looking to strengthen and I’ve spoken about strengthening in areas of goalscorers because it’s been found short in home games recently, particularly.
“People who are clinical are hard to find and I’ll only want to go that way if we know we’re improving the squad we have already.”
On whether any deals are close
“No. But what is close? It’s January. I’ve said before that if it’s right then we’ll look at it. But we’re not imminent. You’re not going to have any big news today or tomorrow.”
On reports Andreas Christensen might leave
“I can rule it out. I like Andreas as a player. I’ve always liked him. I used to train with him. I saw the talent coming through.
“What I want Andreas to be is the best he can be. When you see him and you see the height, the athleticism and the quality on the ball and choice of pass, I want him to be all the things he can be. I want to work towards that and he knows that.”
On whether Tammy Abraham can replace Harry Kane for England
“Where Tammy’s got himself, by getting himself into regular squads of late, with his goalscoring for us, he’s given himself a chance.
“The work is all there to be done. A lot can change in football in that period of time. They’re competitors all vying for places up front, so it just depends on what Tammy does and what the squad is come the Euros.
“I think he’s a player that can play in that highest level but he’s still in those early stages. It’s his first period of time in the Premier League where he’s scoring goals.
“I expect a lot more of that from him and hopefully the progression goes one way.”
On Ruben Loftus-Cheek
“Ruben is still out and is out for a while. He’s hopefully going to start getting involved in a bit of football, maybe with the academy to get his eye in slightly in terms of playing.”
