Frank Lampard questions Matic's sale to Manchester United

Chelsea legend and record goal scorer Frank Lampard has questioned the
club's decision to sell Nemanja Matic to Manchester United.

The Blues lost on penalties to Arsenal in Sunday's Community Shield
after the match ended 1-1 after 90 minutes.

Speaking as part of BT Sport's coverage of Sunday's match, the former
England international was less than impressed with the state of the
Chelsea squad going into the new season.

"You look at the two teams there, and Chelsea have got almost half of
what the Arsenal squad is,"
He said

"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.

"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."

Antonio Conte had on Friday also questioned the sale of Matic to
Manchester United. When asked on his feelings on the Serbian's
departure, his reply was, the club's board should be asked why he was
sold.

The manager has called for more signings to strengthen his squad as
they are currently short on numbers with just replacement signed for
players that have departed.

So far, Antonio Rudiger and Tiemoue Babayoko are deemed replacements
for John Terry and Nemanja Matic. While Alvaro Morata is expected to
fill the void of Diego Costa who is now a outcast at the club and is
expected to leave.

Chelsea are back in Europe's premier club competition the Champions
League this season. Whereas last season, there played no part in
Europe. which is one reason the manager has called for additional
signings to strengthen his squad in order to cover for the increased
number of matches.

Arsene Wenger calls for unity between club and fans ahead of new season

Following Arsenal's victory over Chelsea in the Community Shield at
Wembley on Sunday, Arsene Wenger has called for the fans to unite
behind the team ahead of the new campaign.

The second half of last season was characterised by protest and open
dissent from supporters. The kind never seen before in Wenger's reign
at the club. As sections of the club's fan base called for the French
man to end his two decade association with the club following a
difficult season which saw Arsenal miss out on a Champions League spot
for the first time in 20 years.

They still finished last season on a high following a record 13th FA
Cup win at Wembley over Sunday's opponent and Seventh for Arsene
Wenger.

What followed was a two year contract extension.

Now with the come from behind win over Chelsea on Sunday, the current
longest serving manager in Premier League has recognised that while
it's a dream to make the fans happy, there would be difficult times in
the coming compaign and he is imploring the fans, that at those
moments, they should unite behind the team.

"It is a dream to make the fans happy, a difficult dream, but we try
hard. I would like that they stand behind the team as we might go
through some very good periods and some not so good periods.

"We want to be united and together throughout the season."

Arsenal open their league campaign on Friday against Leicester City,
when they would be looking to avoid the pitfalls of going four times
in five season without winning their opening match.

Chelsea team to face Arsenal: New signings Morata and Rudiger on the bench

Chelsea team to face Arsenal.

Courtois; Azpilicueta, David Luiz, Cahill (c); Moses, Fabregas, Kante,
Alonso; Willian, Batshuayi, Pedro

Subs: Caballero, Rudiger, Christensen, Scott, Boga, Musonda, Morata.

Eden Hazard and new signing Bakayoko are both still on the mind from
respective ankle and knee surgeries. So are not included.

Arsenal line up to face Chelsea: Starts for Lacazette and Iwobi

Arsenal trade tackles with Chelsea in the curtain-raiser to the
English Premier League season, the community shield at Wembley.

The line is below:

Petr Cech
Rob Holding Per Mertesacker Nacho Monreal
Hector Bellerin OxladeChamberlain
Mo Elneny Granit Xhaka Danny Welbeck Alex Iwobi
Alexandre Lacazette

Subs: Ospina, Kolasinac, Willock, Nelson, Maitland-Niles, Walcott, Giroud.

Mesut Ozil, Aaron Ramsey and Francis Coquelin are not included due to
injury. While Alexis Sanchez and Mustafi recently returned to training
due to their extended summer break.

Report: Arsenal target Thomas Lemar link with Barça move

According to report by French daily L'equipe, Arsenal's main target Thomas Lemar is now the subject of interest from Spanish giants Barcelona.

The 22 year old has been the subject of three bids from Arsenal that was rejected by Monaco.  The last of which was in the region of 45m pounds.

The French Champions are reported to be holding out for a much larger fee for the France international who was part of the Monaco team that opened their defence of the ligue 1 title with a 3-2 win over Toulouse on Friday night.

Following the world record transfer of Neymar from Barcelona to PSG, the Catalans are looking at possible replacements for the departed Brazilian international. And Thomas Lemar's name is now being mentioned as a possible replacement.

With Barcelona having 200m pounds from the Neymar deal to spend, meeting the valuation of Monaco would not be much of an issue for them.

Arsenal were in pole position to secure the services of Lemar, after having several bids turned down by Monaco, with Barcelona now in the frame for the 22 year old, it would be difficult for Arsene Wenger to secure his principal target of this window, particularly if the Catalans are willing to meet the valuation of Monaco.

So far, it remains a developing story, but with Monaco holding out for much higher fee for their midfielder, they wouldn't be adverse to selling to the highest bidder.

Liverpool's Adam Lallana ruled out for two months

Liverpool and England midfielder Adam Lallana has been ruled out for
two months with a thigh injury.
The 29 year old sustained the injury while playing in the pre-season
Audi cup tourney match against Spanish side Atletico Madrid on
Wednesday in Munich.

Confirmation of the injury came through the club's manager, Jurgen Klopp

"I think we can pretty much rule him out of August and September,"
"This is certainly not news we would have wanted." the German said

The news of the injury is a setback for Liverpool as they look to
qualify for the group stages of the Champions League.

The Merseysiders were this Friday drawn against Bundesliga side
Hoffenheim in the play-off round before the group stages proper.

His injury denies Klopp of one of his attacking weapons at the
beginning of the season. He is now expected to rely on Sadio Mane, who
recently returned from injury after missing four months, new signing
Mo Salah as well as Coutinho and Firmino.
He would be hoping that there are no more injuries as they look to
negotiate a tricky opponent in Hoffenheim in the Champions League
play-offs and the Premier League matches in-between.

Whether the club would be forced to dip into the transfer market
following this injury remains to be seen. They have been repeatedly
frustrated by attempts to strengthen their squad following bids that
were rejected for Naby Keita.

This injury comes when there is still uncertainty over the fitness of
Daniel Sturridge after his goal and injury cameo at the Audi Cup
against Bayern Munich.

Leicester City confirms signing of Kelechi Iheanacho

Leicester City have confirmed the signing of Super Eagles attacker
Kelechi Iheanacho from Manchester City.

The 20 year old joins the 2016 Premier League champions on a five year
contract until 2022 for an undisclosed fee reported to be in the
region of £25m.

On his signing, he told the club's website

"It feels good and I'm happy to be part of this team. I know the
ambition of the team and speaking with the manager, he let me know
what I need to do to help the team achieve what they want. I was
convinced and I'm happy to be here."

On his part, Leicester City manager, Craig Shakespeare
had this to say:

"It's a great signing for us. Kelechi is an enormously talented player
that has shown a huge amount of promise at every level in which he's
played.

"We've tracked his progress for some time, so we know how much
quality he'll bring to the squad. He's young, he's hungry, he's ready
for the next stage of his development and I'm delighted that will be
with Leicester City."

Iheanacho leaves Manchester City after 64 appearances with 21 goals.

His signing increases the Nigerian contingent at the King Power
stadium to three with Wilfred Ndidi and Ahmed Musa already on the
books of Leicester City.