Mourinho hoping to extend old guard’s stay at Stamford Bridge

Jose Mourinho is to submit a written report reviewing his first campaign back in English football on Monday and will state his case for the retention of the team's experienced core of John Terry, Frank Lampard and Ashley Cole beyond the expiry of their contracts.

The Portuguese, who has been working on the report over the past few weeks, will also detail the tweaks he would like made to his squad in the close season and will argue for Thibaut Courtois to return to his parent club after three years on loan at Atletico Madrid.

Mourinho expects to meet the club's hierarchy this month to discuss his suggestions.

Fantastic team
The three players are out of contract at Stamford Bridge on June 30th and Terry and Lampard are expected to miss Sunday's final-day visit to relegated Cardiff City through injury and illness respectively. Mourinho wants the trio to be retained.

"But it's difficult for me to speak in this moment about it," he said. "Clearly Chelsea had a fantastic team that lasted for 10 years. Some of these boys are still here but not many of them. And Chelsea are building their future.

“You could see this season these people were important to give some stability, some experience to the team, but obviously they’re not the players for the next 10 years. Those have to be the Hazards, Oscars, Nemanja Matic ... these young guys.

“I’ve been [compiling] this report for a long time. It’s not something I’ve just turned to but I’ll give it on Monday. And after that we meet, we discuss and we address these cases.”

The immediate futures of the young Belgium striker Romelu Lukaku, who has spent the campaign at Everton and Courtois will also be addressed.

"Lukaku had a successful loan," said the manager. "By that I mean sometimes the players go on loan and we cannot find a positive reason for that loan at the end of the season.

Good coach
"But Lukaku played all the time, had minutes of experience in the Premier League in a good team with a good coach, scoring his goals. So he's a successful case of loans and those are the ones we have to analyse. But I haven't discussed [his future] with the player or with my own club yet.

“On Courtois I’ve made a decision but I’m not the club. I’m the manager. I will inform the club about my opinion, not just with a simple comment made in a corridor ... I like to do things in a proper way, to be committed with my opinions, so I will do it in writing . . . . So my final report will have, in detail, this kind of case which you can compare with Lukaku. Courtois’s was also a successful loan, a long loan in this case. My job is to analyse things, to have opinions and make my decisions. After that the club is the club. I have to work for and with the club and respect the club’s decisions. I’ve made clear my opinions.”

Guardian Service