Frank Lampard 'plotting £70m bid' for Ben Chilwell after Chelsea transfer ban ends

Chelsea boss Frank Lampard is lining up a £70million swoop when the club's transfer ban ends - for Leicester left-back Ben Chilwell.

Lampard cannot sign players for his Chelsea side until next summer, or January if an appeal by the club is successful.

But the 41-year-old already has his first target in mind, according to reports.

Chilwell was a target for Manchester City earlier this summer, but boss Pep Guardiola eventually signed Angelino from PSV Eindhoven to provide competition for Alex Zinchenko and Benjamin Mendy.

The 22-year-old has also been linked with Arsenal as well as Barcelona and Atletico Madrid.

Ben Chilwell could be the next Leicester defender set for a move - and it could be to Chelsea (Getty Images)

With the English transfer window having closed last week, Chilwell has missed out on a move to a Premier League rival.

And that has given Lampard encouragement that he can sign the England ace.

Now the Chelsea manager is considering a swoop as soon as Chelsea's transfer ban is lifted, according to the Sun .

Lampard needs left-back options, especially with Marcos Alonso considering his future.

Lampard must wait for Chelsea's transfer ban to end (Chelsea FC via Getty Images)

Chilwell's former Leciester team-mate Harry Maguire joined Manchester United last week in a £80m move - a world record for a defender.

Meanwhile, Lampard is targeting victory over Manchester United in his first game as Chelsea boss - to emulate his managerial mentor Jose Mourinho .

Lampard was playing for Chelsea when Mourinho took charge in 2004, with the Portuguese manager masterminding a win over Sir Alex Ferguson's United in his first game in the hotseat.

The current Chelsea boss was playing in that victory, which kick-started a dominant campaign for The Special One's side as they won the first of back-to-back Premier League titles under Mourinho.

Lampard will aim to mastermind a victory over Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's Manchester United on Sunday (Getty Images)

And Lampard hopes a win over United at Old Trafford on Sunday can do the same for his team's momentum as it did for Mourinho's.

He said: “You would certainly get momentum. I remember the game, it wasn’t great and we didn’t play ­particularly well, but we won 1-0. It was a nice start for us because we’d had a good pre-season and all our standards had been lifted by Jose Mourinho.

“It would be great to have that sort of momentum after the first game."