Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho had admitted that club legend Frank Lampard will return to Stamford Bridge in the future in the form of a managerial role.
Lampard parted ways with the club at the end of the season, but Mourinho insists that his Chelsea career is not completely over.
‘I do not think he is leaving,’ Mourinho told ITV during a United Nations ambassadorial visit to Ivory Coast. ‘I think he is just going for a ride somewhere and then he is coming back very, very soon because that’s what the owner wants, that’s what he [Lampard] wants – what everybody wants.’
When asked if Lampard might manage Chelsea, the 51-year-old said: ‘Whatever he wants, whenever he wants. I repeat Mr Abramovich’s words – I will have him doing anything.’ ‘The door is open for such a big guy in our club.’
The Chelsea boss has already asked Lampard to become his assistant manager after Mourinho admits that letting the midfielder go was one of his hardest moments in his career.
Mourinho said: ‘You can’t imagine how difficult it was. I think only Frank knows that, but at the same time I can feel some happiness about the process because, for sure, he comes back to Chelsea.’
‘He can be a coach, he can start at the academy, he can start being my assistant at the same time because he is doing his coaching badges, or he can start in a different role.’
By Ollie Brown
