Frank Lampard baffled by Chelsea’s lack of summer buys and the sale of Nemanja Matic to Manchester United
Stamford Bridge legend claims 'there's something not quite right' and hopes boss Antonio Conte will finally splash out
FRANK LAMPARD is urging Chelsea to splash out out after admitting he is baffled by their lack of signings and the sale of Nemanja Matic to Manchester United.
The Blues legend fears Antonio Conte‘s current squad is too small to seriously challenge for both the Champions League and retaining their Premier League crown.
Lampard, starting his new role as a BT Sport pundit, believes Sunday’s Community Shield loss to Arsenal shows “there’s something not quite right there”.
The former England midfielder, 39, said: “I’m sure Conte can go to the board and say he needs more players.
“They need another central midfielder, and they need cover in the wing-back roles.
‘You look at the two teams there, and Chelsea have got almost half of what the Arsenal squad is.
‘If we’re talking about quality, I still think Chelsea have that quality, but when Conte was at Juventus he used to do the same thing in the summer. He used to push the club to buy more players to move forward.”
Lampard added: “It was a strange one [to see Matic join United]. He was such a huge part of Chelsea‘s play last year alongside Kante at the base.
“He let the wing-backs fly on and he allowed Pedro and Willian freedom to go forward.”
Late Chelsea substitute Alvaro Morata and keeper Thibaut Courtois missed Wembley penalties in a new shootout system as Arsenal won on spot-kicks following a 1-1 draw.
Victor Moses had put the Blues in front on 46 minutes.
But Chelsea midfielder Pedro’s red card for a nasty foul on Mohamed Elneny led to Sead Kolasinac heading the Gunners level from the resulting free-kick in the 82nd minute.
Lampard said: “I think the whispers coming out of Chelsea has been slightly negative. The performance was average, rusty in the first-half, only glimpses in the second half.
“I was slightly concerned anyway as this game came early, but barring the goal, they defend the box better than anyone in the league.
“I’m sure Chelsea will be in the run-in, but it’s too early to say they’ll win the league.”
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