Jose Mourinho has been given the green light by Roman Abramovich to decide on the futures of Chelsea veterans John Terry, Ashley Cole and Frank Lampard.
Mourinho has the full backing of Roman Abramovich to oversee the transition of the squad and make the final judgement on any player’s contract.
Chelsea recently completed the signing of former midfielder Nemanja Matic from Benfica for a reported fee of £22m. The signing of Matic increases the already hefty competition for a place in Chelsea’s midfield and at 35 Lampard’s place is clearly under pressure.
However Mourniho still sees him as a valuable option moving forward and is likely to rotate Lampard alongside Ramires, John Obi Mikel and Matic.
Despite the fact that John Terry is no longer part of the English national team, he is almost certain to stay at Chelsea next season after enjoying a resurgence of form under Mourinho.
Jose Mourinho is yet to make his opinions public but insisted he does want to maintain a nucleus of experienced “club legends”.
All three players have proven pedigree both domestically and internationally and the fact that Mourinho will have the deciding vote will be of comfort to both Terry and Lampard.
The case of Ashley Cole is far more intriguing however. Cole has been regularly consigned to the bench this season given Mourinho’s preference for Cesar Azpilicueta.
Chelsea’s reported interest in Southampton’s Luke Shaw is sure to put even more pressure on the left back and Cole’s future could yet hinge on whether Chelsea can clinch a deal for the 18 year old.
Mourinho also does not expect Chelsea to reach their best until next season at least and has again added to the immediate pressure being put on Manuel Pelligrini at Manchester City:
“It’s not about having quality players, other clubs also have quality. But Manchester City are in the perfect moment. In another dimension. The number of players they have at the same level is amazing.”
Looking ahead to the visit of Manchester United on Sunday, Mourinho predicted that David Moyes’ team are “probably” out of the title race:
“They will get back on track probably too late to win the league because they’re too many points behind the leader. The gap is difficult to recover.”
