John Terry has called on Chelsea to take advantage of the suspension of Fifa’s transfer ban by signing several new players in January.

Chelsea’s embargo has been frozen by the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne pending the club’s appeal over the Gaël Kakuta case, which is not expected to be heard until February. That leaves Chelsea clear to enter the market when the window opens in the new year.

Carlo Ancelotti said last week that he has no need for fresh blood, such is his faith in his squad, but Terry takes a different view.

Chelsea are missing Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard, Ashley Cole and José Bosingwa because of injury and will lose Drogba, Michael Essien, John Obi Mikel and Salomon Kalou when they play in the African Cup of Nations, which is being staged in Angola from January 10 to 31. It has led Terry, the captain, to conclude that reinforcements are required.

“The suspension is good news as we lose four good players in January anyway,” he said. “I’m sure the club and the manager are looking into that and having good talks with Roman [Abramovich, the owner]. I wouldn’t be surprised if we do go out and buy because we don’t know what’s going to happen in the summer or the following summer.”

Terry has called for similar levels of investment from Chelsea’s owner in the past, but even allowing for his extraordinary degree of influence at the club, a sudden rush of spending is by no means guaranteed.

After their FA Cup Final win over Everton last season, Terry named David Villa and Franck Ribéry as targets whom Chelsea should attempt to sign, but even though approaches were made to both players, the club were put off by a combination of their employers' exorbitant asking prices and wage demands.

Chelsea are likely to find negotiations even more difficult in January because selling clubs will attempt to exploit their unusual situation. A premium is usually added to all mid-season moves in any case, while there is also the matter of Champions League eligibility to consider.

Many of their top targets, such as Sergio Agüero, the Atlético Madrid striker, will be ineligible for the Champions League campaign and Chelsea must decide whether it is worth shelling out millions of pounds on players who will be available on the domestic front only.

Terry believes that Chelsea should begin stockpiling players for forthcoming seasons in case Fifa’s original two-window transfer ban is upheld, while the club are planning for the future by considering moves for Adam Johnson, the Middlesbrough winger, and Jack Rodwell, the Everton midfield player.

Johnson, 22, is likely to sign in January, but could be loaned back to Middlesbrough for the rest of the season. But Chelsea face strong competition from Manchester United for Rodwell, who, at 18, is in no rush to leave Merseyside.

“Looking at it realistically, we’re maybe going to be suspended in the summer window and maybe another one after that,” Terry said. “The manager has great experience and he knows what we need.

“We’re going well at the minute and we’re lucky enough to have a big squad with good players who can come in if we get injuries.”

Chelsea’s injury problems worsened yesterday when Michael Ballack pulled out of Germany’s friendly international against Ivory Coast tomorrow with a knee injury.

Ballack will not be able to train for several days and is doubtful for the Barclays Premier League visit of Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday, which is likely to mean a return to the starting line-up for Joe Cole for the first time in almost a month.

“Ballack has an infection in the back of the knee and there has been a reaction,” Joachim Löw, the Germany coach, said. “After consultation with the doctors — I also spoke to Michael Ballack this morning — I have decided that he will not play.

“It makes no sense to take risks, also in terms of Chelsea as they have quite a few games leading up to Christmas and afterwards.”

•The England 2018 bid team have recruited Simon Greenberg, Chelsea’s outgoing communications and public affairs director, as its chief of staff. Greenberg, a former sports journalist, had already announced his intention to leave Stamford Bridge and will take up his new role on December 1 with specific responsibilities for campaign strategy and strategic communications.