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Chelsea are a team tasked with filling many voids within a squad that was immensely refurbished in the summer.
Exactly a month after they were sitting pretty at the top of the Premier League table, the Blues have slipped to ninth place, seven points off leaders Liverpool.
With just four points collected from a possible 18 recently, Chelsea's young brigade is under substantial pressure heading into the new year.
Roman Abramovich may already be in the process of lining up replacements for under-fire Frank Lampard, while on the other hand the club will continue their business this transfer window.
On that note, we list the top transfer stories surrounding Chelsea on January 5.
Chelsea line up four possible Lampard replacements
Chelsea have lined up a four-man shortlist of probable replacements for Lampard, according to the Mirror.
Should results continue this way for Chelsea, one of Brendan Rodgers, Max Allegri, Ralph Hasenhuttl or Thomas Tuchel will be asked to take over the hot seat at Stamford Bridge.
Rodgers and Hasenhuttl are presently in the PL with Leicester City and Southampton, while the other two are without a job.
Significant backing by the board and his understanding of the Chelsea philosophy could mean that Lampard might be trusted at least until the end of this season.
Chelsea to sell four players in order to accommodate Rice
Chelsea are tipped to offload four first-team stars in order to sanction the deal for West Ham United star Declan Rice.
Transfer specialist Alex Crook told TalkSport (via Express) that Willy Caballero, Danny Drinkwater, Fikayo Tomori and Marcos Alonso may have to be sold if Chelsea are to trigger West Ham's asking price of £80 million for Rice.
The midfielder has been at the heart of everything for West Ham, having played every single minute of the Premier League season thus far.
Tomori destined to join Leeds United
BBC Sport understand that Leeds United is the most likely destination for Chelsea's Fikayo Tomori.
The 23-year-old has been rumored with a loan switch to the likes of Newcastle United, but recent reports suggest Marcelo Bielsa's side could beef up their ranks with club captain Liam Cooper and Robin Koch sidelined with long-term injuries.
Tomori played a total of 22 matches for Chelsea last term but has found it difficult to break into the team with Thiago Silva, Kurt Zouma, Andreas Christensen and Antonio Rudiger all ahead of him in the pecking order.
Chelsea enter the race to sign Manchester United target Caicedo
Chelsea are reportedly planning to snatch Moises Cancedo from under Manchester United's noses, according to stories from Ecuador. (via Metro)
The 19-year-old midfielder, available at £5.5 million, recently emerged as a target for Manchester United.
Santiago Morales, Independiente del Valle's general manager, said:
"There is interest from various teams for Moises Caicedo and we believe that we will not have him this year. There is much speculation with Moises Caicedo, but we haven’t had any communication with Manchester United. We are surprised that they even talk about values, but we haven’t spoken with Manchester United, although we have spoken with other great teams in the world."
Chelsea have already made an approach, the report stated.
