Mourinho Says Lampard Was 'The Best Player in the Premier League for 1 Decade'

Jose Mourinho has heralded Chelsea legend Frank Lampard as the "best player in the Premier League for one decade."

The Portuguese worked with Lampard twice as Chelsea manager, during his first spell between 2004 and 2007 and then again when he returned to Stamford Bridge in 2013/14.

In total, the former England midfielder made 609 appearances and scored 177 goals in the league across spells with West Ham United, Chelsea and Manchester City. 

And despite having managed stars at some of Europe's biggest clubs, including Real Madrid and Inter Milan, Mourinho holds Lampard the highest.

"At Chelsea, in my first period, I had Frank Lampard, probably the best player in the Premier League for one decade," he told the Straits Times (via Football365).

But Mourinho also had praise for a number of the other great players he has worked with:

"

I went to Inter [Milan], I had [Zlatan] Ibrahimovic, I got [Javier] Zanetti I got to Madrid, I had [Cristiano] Ronaldo. I come back to Chelsea and I find other top players.

I have so many, they gave me so much, it’s not fair to say this is the one. It’s impossible to win so many things without the players so I respect all of them.

"

[h/t Football365]