José Mourinho doesn't regret letting Frank Lampard leave Chelsea this summer.

Lampard signed with New York City FC and has been a key part of Manchester City's side this season on a loan.

"He left Chelsea as a free agent and chooses his life, we can't complain about it, that's football," Mourinho told reporters. "It's his life, nothing to do with us. We made the right decision.

"My view is that when you want to look forward, look to the future and have people like (Cesc) Fabregas and (Nemanja) Matic and Jeremie Boga (a midfielder with the under-21s) which are the next 10 years of the club.

"The project is to prepare for the next 10 years, not for the next year. We made the right decision.

"You can argue 'You have John Terry and Didier Drogba'. Different. Drogba is a striker that is coming to help and support the team. John Terry is the best central defender in English football and it doesn't matter how old he is.

"The nucleus of the team has to be developed and to have a big player like Frank we would stop the development of the other guys."