Sunday 22 February 2015 22:49, UK
Jose Mourinho told Goals on Sunday of his surprise at Frank Lampard's move to Man City.
The veteran midfielder, now 36, signed for New York City FC at the end of his Chelsea contract last summer but was then snapped up by the MLS side's parent club - Premier League rivals City - on a season-long loan deal.
Mourinho told Goals on Sunday of the decision not to offer Lampard, who is Chelsea's all-time record goalscorer, a new deal: "We let him go for different reasons.
"First of all, I think the motivation Frank has to have this role at City wouldn't be the same motivation he has to have the same role at Chelsea.
"Secondly, we open the door for him to choose his future and we thought he'd go to the States and would come back after a couple of years to do what he wants.
"He could have come back as first-team coach, a scout, a director of football. Anything he wanted. We would have found a new department for him! What he did for Chelsea for more than one decade was something amazing.
We were surprised by his decision to join Manchester but I would never criticise his option.
"We were surprised by his decision to join Manchester but I would never criticise his option."
Lampard scored 211 goals in his time at Stamford Bridge, which ran from 2001 to 2014, and Mourinho admitted he is one of the best players he has ever managed.
"Yes, of course," Mourinho added.
"A midfielder player doesn’t score so many goals. It’s as simple as that and I think his career was based on an unbelievable number of goals he scored from midfield. That made him a unique player because I had so many good midfield players but a player to score this number of goals is amazing.”
Watch Jose Mourinho's Goals on Sunday interview again at 6.40pm on Sunday, Sky Sports 3.
