Jose Mourinho to decide on Chelsea future of John Terry, Ashley Cole and Frank Lampard

Roman Abramovich hands Jose Mourinho the power to decide whether veteran players are worthy of new contracts at Chelsea 

 

Roman Abramovich has underlined his faith in Jose Mourinho by granting him the autonomy to decide whether Chelsea offer Frank Lampard, John Terry and Ashley Cole new contracts.

In a shift in club policy from the tenures of Rafael Benítez and Roberto di Matteo, Abramovich is placing full trust in his manager to oversee the transition of the squad and make football judgments about the future of key players.

A £22 million deal to bring Nemanja Matic back to Chelsea from Benfica is almost complete and, although the addition of another central midfielder will place fresh pressure on Lampard, his situation is likely to be helped by the power that Mourinho has established on his return to Chelsea.

The attitude of the club’s board is that Mourinho will remain manager in the long term and that their role, within the financial constraints of meeting Uefa’s new financial fair-play guidelines, is to back his decisions.

Mourinho is yet to make his final recommendation on Terry, Lampard and Cole, who are all out of contract in the summer, but he does want to maintain a nucleus of experienced “club legends” in his squad.