Soccer

Mourinho urges duo to pen new contracts

Jose Mourinho insists that captain John Terry and Frank Lampard could not find a better club and expects talks over new deals…

Thu May 24 2007 - 01:00

Jose Mourinho insists that captain John Terry and Frank Lampard could not find a better club and expects talks over new deals for both players to reach a successful conclusion.

Mourinho has suggested that discussions over contract extensions for the England pair are ongoing and believes that both players will stay at Stamford Bridge.

Terry and Lampard are both keen to remain at Chelsea but want pay parity with top earners Andriy Shevchenko and Michael Ballack.

But while Mourinho accepts that a change in salary is not as easy to accomplish when players are already in the top earning bracket, he insists that neither player could find a better club to move to.

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The Portuguese said: "They are very important to all of us and I don't think they can find a better club than us. There are big clubs in the world, I am not trying to disrespect those, but to feel like they feel here, I don't think they can find better.

"It was not an issue for a week before the FA Cup final. It is an issue to be solved quietly, no press, just communication between them, the club, agents and families, arriving at a conclusion.

"The love the players have for the club is easy to see. The love the club has for them is also very easy to feel. Our public never stops showing them how much they love them and the board also wants to show them the love, respect and how much we need them.

"When the players love the club and the club loves the players, I think they will arrive at a conclusion."

Meanwhile another player Chelsea hope to land a long-term deal is Dutch winger Arjen Robben. The 23-year-old is understood to have been offered a four-year contract extension but is the subject of transfer interest from Bayern Munich.

Robben pledged his future to Chelsea after their FA Cup final win over Manchester United but speculation persists that he may quit Stamford Bridge.

His father and agent, Hans Robben, has admitted he is in contact with the Bavarian side's general manager Uli Hoeness, but says there is little he can do until negotiations with Chelsea are completed.