Andriy Shevchenko is confident Chelsea will compete in the transfer market in the summer

Andriy Shevchenko is confident that Chelsea will compete with the likes of Manchester City and Manchester United to sign the best players on offer once the summer transfer window commences after conclusion on the current campaign.

The Blues signed five players in the summer with a total outlay of around £200m ($276m) and brought in three more players during the January transfer window spending around £54m, according to Transfermarkt.

City, meanwhile, spent around £220m to bring in eight players last summer, and a further £58m in January this year to sign Aymeric Laporte from Athletic Bilbao. United, on the other hand, spent the least among the three with a total outlay of around £145m on three players. The Red Devils, however, made a big financial commitment in January to beat rivals City to sign Alexis Sanchez from Arsenal as part of a swap deal that saw Henrikh Mkhitaryan move the other way.

Shevchenko believes the competition between the top teams in England to sign the best talent will continue and he has backed his former employers to continue competing with City and United, who are the financially the strongest two clubs in England.

"It is always a big competition between the English clubs about who signs the best player,' Shevchenko was quoted as saying by the Daily Mail. "There's all these big teams and maybe next year Chelsea will sign a couple of new players."

"You always have to be ahead, in the scouting too. You need to scout the good, young players and sign the players you're looking for in the right position."

Shevchenko was also asked about Chelsea's club-record signing Alvaro Morata, who after a strong start to his debut campaign in the Premier League has struggled for form in recent months. He has managed just one goal in his last 13 appearances in all competitions.

Morata's lack of form saw Conte invest £18m during the January transfer window to sign Olivier Giroud from Arsenal, but the Frenchman has also delivered just one goal thus far. However, Shevchenko, who also struggled during his time at Chelsea, believes Morata can have better returns if he improves his finishing.

"I've seen a lot of him," the Ukranian forward said speaking at the recent Laureus World Sports Awards. "He's had a lot of chances, which is a positive sign, but you need to improve the finishing when you have chances like that."