Ancelotti to make January buy

(GSM) – Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti has revealed that he will try to sign a defender during the January transfer window if Alex fails to recover from knee surgey before the end of the month.

Alex was sidelined for eight weeks as captain John Terry faced treatment, forcing Ancelotti to play Paulo Ferreira as center back, a move that backfired spectacularly as Chelsea began a slump in form with a 3-0 defeat at the hands of Sunderland.

And although Ancelotti vowed to run around the club’s training ground if he signed a player in January last year, he admitted that he may be forced to move for a defender next month.

“If I have to bet, I can bet the opposite,” he said. “Until the 31st of January, if we are sure that Alex will have resolved his problem, we won’t need another defender. We have to wait to see his condition.

“We can think about things, a new defender, towards the end of January. That would be the only position.”

And Ancelotti admits he would prefer buying an English defender.

“Obviously, if you take an English player, you don’t have a problem with the culture, the language,” he said. “Maybe they have advantages for this reason.”

Meanwhile the Italian manager insisted the transfer market cannot offer replacements for the likes of Frank Lampard, who will make his first start for four months in Monday’s clash at Arsenal.

“In the market, there is no player capable of replacing Lampard,” said Ancelotti, who has already dismissed reports linking him with Tottenham playmaker Luka Modric.

Ancelotti is happy with his squad, despite criticism for many players – most notably striker Didier Drogba – for their recent dip in form.

“Every player has different skills: Mikel is not able to score but is fantastic defensively; Ramires the same; Essien has, I think, his skill to score from outside the box but he was injured for a month, so his condition has not been so good.

“I can say that Drogba scored 40 in one year. I don’t have to look at this moment and judge the performances of the players.

“If you have to judge Drogba, Anelka or Malouda now, they haven’t scored. But Malouda was one of the more impressive players at the start of the season.

“”The ability of the coach is not to judge moment by moment. If you do this, you’re up and down all the time.”