'Matic to United was strange': Lampard criticises Chelsea transfer business

Chelsea lost against Arsenal on penalties after an entertaining and controversial clash at Wembley, and Frank Lampard gathered his own conclusions from the fixture.

Before the match a Wembley started, Lampard picked up a matchday programme and said: 'You look at the two teams there, and Chelsea have got almost half of what the Arsenal squad is'.

The former England man was referring to the lack of depth in Conte's team, which he believes is a problem for the Blues: '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', he continued.

'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', Lampard said about Matic's surprising departure to Old Trafford.

The former Chelsea captain criticised the Blues' performance: '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'.

And he again underlined the team's need to strengthen: '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 run-in, but it's too early to say they'll win the league', he concluded.