Mourinho Does Not Regret Releasing Lampard

Jose Mourinho has said he does not look back on his decision not to renew Frank Lampard’s contract in the summer despite the midfielder’s impressive form for Manchester City.

Lampard’s 11-year sojourn with the west London ‘Blues’ came to an emotional end after last season having etched his name on the heart of the Stamford Bridge faithful as the club’s all-time leading scorer.

“My view is that when you want to look forward, look to the future and have people like [Cesc] Fabregas and [Nemanja] Matic and Jeremie Boga (Chelsea under-21s midfielder), which are the next 10 years of the club, the project is to prepare for the next 10 years, not for the next year. We made the right decision,” said Mourinho.

He initially joined emerging MLS club Ney York City FC and was later loaned to their sister club, Manchester City.

Frank Lampard Has Scored 4 Premier League Goals So Far This Season. Image: Getty.
Frank Lampard Has Scored 4 Premier League Goals So Far This Season. Image: Getty.

The 36-year-old’s winner at Leicester City on Saturday was his 6th goal for the Etihad stadium outfit and, with Yaya Toure set to leave for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) in January; manager Manuel Pellegrini has revealed he would like to extend the midfielder’s loan beyond its original January due date- meaning Lampard could lineup against his old team-mates

Mourinho however insists keeping Lampard would have hindered the development of Chelsea’s young players.

He said: “You can argue, ‘You have John Terry and Didier Drogba.’ Different. Drogba is a striker that is coming to help and support the team. John Terry is the best central defender in English football and it doesn’t matter how old he is.

“The nucleus of the team has to be developed and to have a big player like Frank we would stop the development of the other guys. It’s his life, nothing to do with us. He left Chelsea as a free agent and chooses his life. We can’t complain about it. That’s football.”