Our Chelsea fans here inside the Transfer Tavern were hoping for a lot more reinforcements in this winter window, with Antonio Conte continuing to struggle with his threadbare squad in a doomed bid to regain his Premier League title.

Chelsea, this season, have hit many rocky patches and a lot of it is down to Conte’s options on the bench. Through injuries and suspensions, the Italian has muddled through most of the campaign and many of the regulars in the bar thought that the Stamford Bridge outfit needed a big push in players incoming to keep up their search for some silverware in Conte’s second season.

However, the Chelsea board seem more intent on balancing the books that investing in the team at present and our punters feel that this could see them start to fall behind in the race for Champions League football.

With that in mind, our landlord takes a look at two signings, Conte should have pushed harder to get in January…

Philipp Max

The German left-back is currently having a great season in the Bundesliga with Augsburg and the attacking full-back has helped his team with 10 assists and grabbed himself a goal in the process. He’s a left-back that likes to get forward and could be a fantastic back up to number one wing-back Marcus Alonso.

Max plays to his strengths of getting down the wing and crossing the ball alongside being able to hit a free kick too, which can only add to his stock.

Edin Dzeko

While Chelsea have strengthened, missing out on Edin Dzeko will serve as a blow. The Bosnian would have been an ideal second striker for the Blues, despite his advancing years. Having proven in the Premier League he can score, as well as be the main man for a top European club such as Roma, he’d have probably been Chelsea’s smartest signing in years.

A massive miss for the club, despite their other January signings.