Chelsea head coach Frank Lampard has responded to reports that the club are 'increasingly confident' of their transfer ban being lifted.
The Blues were given a two-window ban by FIFA earlier in the year which means they cannot register any new players who are above the age of 16, after breaking regulations over the signing of youth players.
However, back in June the west London outfit submitted an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to have this ban reduced to just one which would enable them to make signings in January.
This was after the appeal to FIFA was thrown out.
Although, they are still awaiting a hearing date from CAS, and with the January transfer window just around the corner, the Blues are running out of time if they want to bolster the squad.
Yet that hasn't stopped reports claiming that the club are confident they will be able to make two big signings in the new year.
According to the Sun, Lampard has apparently made a back-up striker his main priority.
Bournemouth star Callum Wilson and RB Leipzig forward Timo Werner are said to be his main targets while a replacement for Wililan, who has not yet agreed a new deal with his contract expiring in the summer, is also on the wishlist.
But the Blues head coach has said that he's in the dark over the appeal and is reluctant to speculate over the outcome.
"I don’t know, is the answer. I don’t know if we can. It is not in my hands so I wouldn’t want to speculate if we can or can’t. At the minute we can’t," Lampard said during his pre-match press conference.
"I am just concentrating on what is ahead of us with the squad we have now. A club like Chelsea, we will always be looking at 'can we improve the squad?' If there is the potential to bring players in.
"At the moment I don’t know the answer."
The transfer ban has actually worked in Lampard and Chelsea's favour this season as a number of the club's most promising youngsters have finally been handed a chance in the first-team.
Mason Mount and Tammy Abraham have been two of the standout players, while Fikayo Tomori and Callum Hudson-Odoi have come into their own in recent weeks.
Meanwhile, there's high hopes for Reece James as well as Billy Gilmour, not to mention Ruben Loftus-Cheek who should make a return from injury before th end of the year.
