Chelsea need bring in their own version of Virgil van Dijk, says legend and icon Frank Leboeuf.
Chelsea have proven over the past few weeks and months that they will have a very exciting midfield and attack next season, especially with both Timo Werner and Hakim Ziyech already at the club and Kai Havertz expected to make that move to London.
Leboeuf, however, believes that the Blues need to be prioritising reinforcements at the heart of their back four from now and until the transfer window shuts in October, as the World Cup winner is not convinced by the centre-half options currently on the books in west London
Former Blues star Leboeuf told ESPN FC on the challenge facing Lampard: “[He needs to improve] all of them. That’s the problem. “The goalkeeper is a big issue, but you have to go to the main [issue]. If you’re looking at the main issue, it’s the central defenders.
“[Kurt] Zouma is doing great, but I’m not confident about [Antonio] Rudiger, I’m not confident about [Andreas] Christensen. I don’t know what will happen with [Fikayo] Tomori, but I think they need a big guy.
“You saw what happened with Liverpool when they got Van Dijk, he changed everything. Even Lovren and Gomez looked better alongside him.
“You need a big guy to make sure he’ll lead the defence. Look at Ramos. [Raphael] Varane is a fantastic player, but is he still the fantastic player when he plays for France as when he plays for Madrid with Sergio Ramos? He’s better with Real Madrid. “They need a big guy in the centre of defence, yeah.”
Leboeuf is right and Lampard will need to add a top-class defender to the back-line, so if they are prepared to spend the money, they they should go for the best that is available on the market.