Jose Mourinho’s time at Chelsea will never be forgotten… but he may get a mixed reception, says Frank Lampard

Chelsea legend Frank Lampard believes former boss Jose Mourinho will get a fairly warm reception when he returns to Stamford Bridge as Manchester United manager but it may not be a unanimous one.

The west London affair on Sunday afternoon has been focused on Mourinho’s return to the club where he was sacked last season.

Prior to that Mourinho had enjoyed two trophy-laden spells which included three Premier League titles.

And despite Mourinho now being in charge of one of their biggest rivals, Lampard believes that the Portuguese will be greeted with more cheers than jeers come kick-off.

‘Sometimes when people move on there’s a rivalry and that gets lost in the moment,’ Lampard told The Sun.

‘But when you look at the bigger picture, people will say what an important man he was for Chelsea.

‘It’s a two-way respect. For what Jose has done in his career, and in his two spells at the club, he will not be forgotten. Particularly in the first spell where he changed the whole mentality of Chelsea and brought success which they hadn’t had before in winning Premier League titles.

‘He’s at United and has arrived there in a certain way. But what happened last year happened.

‘He might get a slightly mixed bag. But on the whole, the general reception will be very thankful for what he did at Chelsea.’