Frank Lampard has become the latest person to comment on the potential arrival of Jose Mourinho at Chelsea but does not know if that would mean he will remain beyond the end of the season.
It’s becoming increasingly clear that Mourinho will leave the Bernabeu and the crowd turned against him last night as he received a cacophony of boos during Real’s 6-2 win over Malaga, with Stamford Bridge being the most likely destination although there is interest from Paris.
Mourinho famously won back-to-back Premier League titles, an FA Cup and two League Cups during his first stint at the West London club and Lampard believes a return would be a ‘great thing’.
The England midfielder said:
“I think it would be a great thing for the club.
“He is a successful manager and he would be a great thing for any club.
“It’s hard to comment with the season still ongoing and with the manager not here or chosen yet. It would be easy to speculate.
“I have seen speculation before and a completely different manager walks through the door so you never know on that front.
“But he is certainly one of the greatest if not the greatest manager in world football.”
He added:
“I’ve always said that I wanted to spend all of my career here so I think everyone knows that.
“I honestly don’t know [whether Mourinho’s return would help my cause].
“We have got two weeks that will decide whether our season has been a successful one or not. That is the main focus.
“Of course Jose Mourinho would be a great manager for any club to have but I don’t think it is right to talk about him while he is still Real Madrid manager.”
The last line made me laugh, it’s a bit late for that after all that proceeded it.
Anyway, I’m doubtful over the media’s portrayal of the situation as everyone assumes a Mourinho return automatically means he will rule the roost on Chelsea’s wage budget and Lampard is definitely getting a new deal to stay on at Chelsea – it all sounds a bit like a fairy tale and things very rarely work out that way.
It arguably seems as though Lampard shares a similar scepticism as he didn’t say anything new and preferred to focus on what Mourinho would mean for Chelsea instead of being drawn on his own future very much.
By this stage it is likely that Mourinho has spoken to the club and there will obviously be compromise as everyone knows the club’s structure isn’t going to be ripped up for the sake of one man and some reports suggest that the manager won’t stand in the way over the Lampard issue. If Lampard was to stay on a similar wage structure then it would reduce the budget in terms of purchases as the bill is higher than our turnover.
I think it’s likely that an extension will be offered on significantly reduced wages and it will be up to him whether or not he will accept that. Only time will tell and there could be a fairy tale ending to this yet.
Source: The MirrorMourinho return would be ‘great’ for Blues but Lampard unsure what it means for him
