After their FA Cup semifinal exit at the hands of Manchester City, it has become clear that Chelsea still require a few new faces to arrive at Stamford Bridge, with the club also desperate to remove the dead wood, bleacherreport.com reports.
With no contract currently offered to veteran midfielder Frank Lampard, the future of the 34-year-old is uncertain. And with MLS outfit Los Angeles Galaxy reported to be keen to offer Lampard a lucrative deal to take him to the USA, this season could be his last in Chelsea colors, the report says.
The fans are desperate for the former West Ham midfielder to extend his stay by another season with a deal similar to that of his England teammate Ashley Cole, who signed a renewed deal until 2014 earlier this year, it adds.
“So with Lampard looking set for the exit from Fulham Road, it will be a difficult task for the incoming Chelsea manager to replace him. Sometimes, though, when you're looking for something, you can't see that it is right there in front of you. And with Henrikh Mkhitaryan impressing with Shakhtar Donetsk, it seems that it could definitely be the case for Roman Abramovich,” bleacherreport.com suggests.
“Armenian star Mkhitaryan is about as close to Lampard as Chelsea may be able to get in today's transfer market, and for a decent price, too. It would be perhaps a gamble in many observers' eyes, as Mkhitaryan's career has been based mainly in Russia and Ukraine, which is significantly lower in quality in comparison to Serie A or the Premier League. On the other hand, his class and quality is evident, regardless of what league he plays in. And in addition to this, he scored twice this season in eight Champions League appearances as Shakhtar reached the knockout stages,” the site says.
Nevertheless, should Lampard decide to leave this summer, the Armenian star should be one of the names considered to make the switch to London, it concludes.
