Jose Mourinho has told Chelsea that he wants to be reunited with
Frank Lampard and
Didier Drogba at Inter Milan.
It’s the first time Mourinho has spoken about his plans to
launch a transfer raid on Stamford Bridge and comes amid reports
that Lampard’s talks over a new Chelsea deal have hit a snag over
the length of any new deal.
Lampard, who turns 30 tomorrow, wants to stay at Chelsea but is
demanding a four-year extension to his current contract.
The club are reportedly only prepared to offer him two
years.
The England midfielder will have talks with new manager Luiz
Felipe Scolari in a bid to resolve the problem but it is now clear
that Mourinho is ready to offer one of his favourite players a way
out of Stamford Bridge with a £10million bid.
The former Blues boss, who is also keen to sign Barcelona’s Deco
— who he managed at Porto and is also a target for Chelsea — said:
“I am not nostalgic but I really like those three players, they
helped me win some great titles.
“I cannot forget Deco, Lampard and Drogba.
"These are players who I could never say no to. I would love to
work with them again in future, but I am not too obsessed with this
idea.
"I don’t know which of the three will leave their clubs but
we’ll see.”
His declaration of intent comes three days after president
Massimo Moratti revealed the midfielder was the club’s No1
target.
More surprising is the former Chelsea coach’s continued desire
to sign Drogba as Moratti said yesterday that Mourinho had no
strikers on his shortlist of transfer targets.
Chelsea are still in negotiations with Barcelona over the fee
for Deco as they are not prepared to pay the £15m asking price.
Barcelona vice-president Marc Ingla claims they are no closer to
agreeing a deal for the 30-year-old and said: “We can’t guarantee
his career will continue at Chelsea because we are yet to receive
an offer from this club.”
Mourinho could now be ready to beat them to his signature as
Deco has made no secret of his admiration for his former
manager at Porto.