Former Chelsea winger Shaun Wright-Phillips firmly believes the Blues can challenge for the title next season, but only if the club back manager Frank Lampard in the transfer market.

A deal for Ajax’s Hakim Ziyech has already been secured, while a move for Timo Werner is close to being finalised, and Wright-Phillips thinks that if Chelsea do manage to sign all of their targets, they can bridge the gap to Liverpool and Manchester City:

“I think next year if he gets the players that he wants and get his team exactly as he wants it, then 100%. They are still challenging for the Champions League spots now, so it’s only one step further forward, and that is challenging against Man City and Liverpool, who have run away with it this year.”

It must be pointed out that there is a huge gap between the Blues and Liverpool at the moment, with the London club currently trailing the league leaders by 34 points.

However, they have shown in one-off games against the Reds this season that they’re very capable of matching them. Consistency over the whole season will be key and, hopefully, that can be found by bringing in the right type of players to the club before the start of next season.