Mourinho tells Chelsea old boys Terry and Lampard they must earn their places

Jose Mourinho has warned Chelsea’s old guard they will not get any preferential treatment during his second term at the club.

Mourinho was officially unveiled as the new manager of Chelsea on Monday at a packed press conference at Stamford Bridge.

The ‘Special One’ relied heavily on the likes of John Terry (32) and Frank Lampard (34) during his first spell in charge of the club, but both players could not hold down a regular first-team place last season under interim manager Rafael Benitez.

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The duo are approaching the latter stages of their respective careers and if they are looking for any favours from their old boss, they will not get them.

'There are still a few boys from my (first) time (at Chelsea),' Mourinho said.

'It is always good to go back and see these people who gave absolutely everything to me when I was here.

'But it’s important to tell you - not them, because they know - that there is no privilege for them. They know my nature. They don’t have an advantage in relation to the other people.

'After (I left) Chelsea did very well to get young boys with great potential, great ability and a great future, and I look forward to trying to improve them.'

Terry in particular cut a disappointed figure for the majority of last season. Just a few months after lifting the Champions League in Munich, the Chelsea captain was kept out of the team because of a knee injury and he struggled to find form and fitness upon his return.

Mourinho refused to criticise Benitez - with whom he has clashed on several previous occasions - for dropping Terry and said he was looking forward to trying to get the best out of the defender again.

'I will talk only about the future. Benitez’s decisions are Benitez’s decisions, I am respectful of that,' the Chelsea manager said.

'I will meet John in July and try to get the best out of him. I know what he can give, let’s try to make him again a very important player, which he couldn’t be last season.'

Mourinho joked today that he could end up with a squad of 60 players next season if he landed all the targets he has been linked with since it was confirmed that he would return to Stamford Bridge.

The former Real Madrid boss admitted he would bring in a couple of new faces and it appears that he also plans to keep Belgian duo Romelu Lukaku and Kevin de Bruyne, who were loaned to West Brom and Werder Bremen.

Mourinho added: 'They are the type of players Chelsea have invested a lot into in the past, and it’s my work to extract the best from those investments.

'Both of them are ready to come and be ready for my squad.'