The winter transfer window is a midseason chance for clubs to strengthen their squads after seeing which areas they feel weakest in during the first few months of the campaign.

Despite their early-season success, Roberto Di Matteo’s side are no different to any other club in their need to recruit new playing staff, and they will not be sitting on their laurels by the time January comes about.

Roman Abramovich ploughed funds into his investment during the summer of 2012, so it will be interesting to see how the Blues spend in the new year.

That being said, we can still look at just where the money will be spent if it is indeed splashed and just why that area of the pitch is in need of refurbishment.

 

Defensive Midfield

While they may have bulked up their attacking midfield considerably over the summer, Chelsea’s back four are lacking a critical piece of cover and have been exposed a bit too frequently thus far.

Given their relatively low amount of defensive midfielders, it came as somewhat of a surprise that Chelsea allowed Michael Essien to move on loan to Real Madrid.

The west London outfit still have Oriol Romeu in their ranks, but it appears that Di Matteo isn’t too accustomed to using the Spaniard, regardless of the potential he might hold.

John Obi Mikel has so far occupied the position and has made seven Premier League starts this season, but he has failed to live up to the high expectations put before him at the time of his arrival at Stamford Bridge.

Creativity will be no problem for the Blues given the reinforcements the club have made in that area of late, but not conceding goals is often as important as scoring them.

 

Striker

Although the forward was a worldly talent once upon a time, Fernando Torres is no longer entirely capable of holding the striking duties of an entire club all on his own.

Didier Drogba was the reliable lynchpin that the team could turn to in times of great crisis, but with the Ivorian no longer in their ranks, Chelsea’s attacking options are extremely limited.

That’s not to say that goals haven’t been hard to find—it’s only that you don’t necessarily want most of your scoring to be coming from the midfield.

A club with the wealth that Chelsea have are constantly being linked with the superstar likes of Edinson Cavani, Radamel Falcao and others, but these deals almost always fail to come to fruition.

However, the attacking line is in need of some beefing up, and with Daniel Sturridge possibly heading for the Blues’ exit, Torres will need an attacking partner to help him out up top.

 

Central Midfield

In Frank Lampard, Chelsea have a sensational deep-lying playmaker capable of breaking up attacks, constructing chances for his teammates and, perhaps most importantly of all, scoring goals.

However, the Chelsea veteran is now 34 years old and is coming into the latter stages of his career despite not yet losing the knack to score a very decent amount for a player his age.

That being said, there are those now beginning to question just who will fill the considerable void that Lampard fills when the Englishman finally does call it a day.

The Chelsea midfield is a versatile machine, and players such as Ramires, Oscar and Lucas Piazon are all great creative talents, but therein lies the problem. All three are more focused on the offensive game but aren't nearly as capable as Lampard when it comes to the grittier side of things.

A lot of faith is being placed in the future of Josh McEachran and how he does as a Chelsea player, but some fans of the club will undoubtedly want an asset for the here and now.