Blues Legend Criticises Chelsea's Transfer Policy & Calls on Club to Bring in New Players

Frank Lampard has criticised the transfer policy of his former club and expressed his belief that new arrivals are needed.

Chelsea were beaten on penalties after a 1-1 draw with Arsenal in the Community Shield on Sunday, Victor Moses' opener cancelled out by a Sead Kolasinac header.

And Lampard made sure to point out the disparity between the squad sizes of Arsenal and Chelsea, as well as condemning the decision to sell Nemanja Matic to Manchester United.

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"You look at the two teams there, and Chelsea have got almost half of what the Arsenal squad is," he said on BT Sport, quoted by the Daily Mail.

"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.

"I think he's concerned as he's going to lose [Diego] Costa, they've lost [Nemanja] Matic. They've brought players in but I think he wants more because now they're going to be fighting on the Champions League front.

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"It was a strange one [to see Matic go to 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."

After the game, Lampard added: "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 don't know why Courtois was taking the penalty. But they'll have to come back next week.

"It's not a tactical move, but 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.

"I was slightly concerned anyway as this game came early, but barring the goal, they defend the box better than anyone in the league. Morata needs to show it. I'm sure Chelsea will be in the running, but it's too early to say they'll win the league."