Chelsea icon Jose Mourinho believes Frank Lampard will face reduced pressure at Chelsea this season due to the club's transfer ban.
The Blues managed to sign Mateo Kovacic permanently after his loan last year and were also strengthened by the arrival of Christian Pulisic, who signed from Borussia Dortmund in January but remained on loan in Germany for the second half of the campaign.
While the likes of Manchester City, Tottenham, Arsenal and Manchester United spent in excess of £100m in the summer, Lampard had to cope with what he already had and will turn towards the youth this season.
As such, Mourinho believes the club's all-time leading scorer will not face the same amount of pressure as other new managers in his position may encounter.
"The most difficult job is when you have the pressure to win and everyone expects you to win, and if you finish second you are the first of the losers. That's the pressure. I think in this moment, with the transfer ban, that releases the pressure," he told Sky Sports.
"They have a very good squad and I'm quite interested to see the direction Frank is going to go in, so let's see that.
“Who plays tonight (against Manchester United) (Olivier) Giroud or (Tammy) Abraham?
"If Abraham plays and Chelsea don't win, people can go in the direction of the younger players being given time: they need time, they are not going to play to win the Premier League.”
