Chelsea should have kept Swansea City loanee Tammy Abraham, says Frank Lampard

Chelsea were wrong to send young forward Tammy Abraham to Swansea City on loan according to club legend Frank Lampard, who thinks Antonio Conte's men would have benefited from keeping the England Under-21 international.

Abraham enjoyed a very productive spell on loan at Championship outfit Bristol City last season, and his fine form at Ashton Gate earned him a crack at the English top-flight. A number of Premier League clubs were interested in loaning Abraham in the summer, but the 20-year-old eventually opted for Swansea and has made an encouraging start to life at The Liberty Stadium, scoring four goals in seven league appearances.

Abraham's development will no doubt please his parent club, but Lampard thinks Chelsea made a "mistake" by farming their young prodigy out to south Wales and believes the burgeoning striker would have proved useful to Conte's side, who is already in the midst of an injury crisis.

"For Chelsea as a club, yes it is a mistake," Lampard told BT Sport, relayed by the Metro. "It's not [a mistake] for Tammy as I don't think he would have played so many games. Now you see him playing regularly and he is improving as a player.

"Chelsea could say 'we didn't feel Tammy was going to play', if you say Morata was fit all season then it is great experience for him and he comes back next season as a well-rounded player. 'But now Morata is injured it seems a mistake.

"You can't have it both ways. I know I've sat on the fence there but you improve the individual by sending him on loan, but as a club now you go 'maybe we could have kept him'."

Chelsea's striking department is certainly a bone of contention for Conte, who remains unconvinced by Morata's current understudy Michy Batshuayi. The former Juventus boss is seemingly reluctant to put his faith in the Belgium international and hauled him off before the hour mark when his side were chasing a goal against Crystal Palace last weekend.

Batshuayi's failure to win over Conte has led the Chelsea manager to pursue other forwards, with Palace forward Christian Benteke and Leicester City's Jamie Vardy reportedly considered by the west London outfit. Conte had chased Fernando Llorente in the summer, but the towering Spaniard opted to sign for Tottenham on deadline day.