Chelsea manager Antonio Conte has criticised the club's board and questioned its ambition ahead of their trip to Manchester City this weekend.

The Italian said that the Premier League outfit must invest heavily to compete with the Sky Blues, but expressed doubt about whether the Blues hierarchy will do so.

"I have great ambition, but I don't have money to spend for Chelsea," The Independent quotes Conte as saying.

"The club knows very well what is my idea, what is my ambition. That is very clear. That ambition must always be the same. When you decide to work with this type of coach, you must understand that you take a coach with great ambition. Not a loser but a winner. For this reason, you must understand this.

"It is very important to have the coach and the club with the same ambition: to improve the team, to improve the idea of football, to improve the quality of your players. If you find this situation, probably the season will finish with success. You can win the league, the cup, the cup and league, the Champions League."

Fifth-placed Chelsea head into Sunday's clash with table-topping City 22 points behind Pep Guardiola's side.