Were Chelsea right to let Frank Lampard go?

Should Frank Lampard still be wearing this shirt?

Frank Lampard has impressed in part-time duty for Manchester City so far this season, so Alex Johnson asks whether it was the right decision by Jose Mourinho to let him leave the Bridge?

Jose Mourinho has come under scrutiny this week.

Frank Lampard's goalscoring form for Manchester City has opened up the debate over whether Chelsea were right to allow their all-time leading scorer walk away from Stamford Bridge last summer.

City are likely to try and keep hold of the midfielder for the rest of this season and it could come to pass that Lampard plays his part in denying the Blues a first league title in five years.

Was Mourinho correct to allow the veteran midfielder depart Chelsea?

Unsurprisingly, given Lampard's form, Mourinho has already fielded questions on whether he made an error of judgement in releasing the then 35-year-old last June.

The Chelsea boss was in no mood to repent, however, insisting he has to look to the long-term future at Chelsea and allow his young players a chance to develop.

"The project is to prepare for the next 10 years, not for the next year - we made the right decision," Mourinho cautioned.

"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."

Given his team are top of the league and heavy favourites to land the title; it is hard to argue with the Portuguese on this one.

The stats are also weighted heavily in Mourinho's favour - and not just in terms of his team's league position.

The Chelsea midfield have contributed 28 goals in all competitions so far this season - led by Eden Hazard on nine.

The Belgian is the fulcrum of so much that is good about the Blues' attack and is a natural replacement for Lampard's goals from deep - although he is not quite in the same box-to-box mould as the Stamford Bridge legend just yet.

Cesc Fabregas has been a revelation and surely only Arsene Wenger can know why Arsenal did not take up the option on their former skipper.

Compare that with a return of 17 goals from Manuela Pellegrini's midfield this season and Mourinho is right to have no regrets.

Lampard is the joint second-highest provider for City on six goals alongside Yaya Toure, who has yet to scale the height of last season.

Lampard will never lose his eye for goal and he did of course score that crucial equaliser against Chelsea at the Etihad Stadium in September.

However, the 59 minutes he completed against Leicester on Saturday was by some way the most playing time he has managed in a league game this season.

The former England man is a bit-part player at City and, with eight different scoring midfielders on his books already this season, Mourinho has no reason to regret his departure just yet.

Lampard could walk away from the Etihad in January to take up his role in New York and that would now come as a blow to the champions given his impact.

With their current striking injury crisis, City can ill-afford to lose a player that is their second top scorer this season despite playing only a cameo role in the team.

It is also worth noting that two of Lampard's six goals came in a Capital One Cup rout against Sheffield Wednesday back in September.

Despite bringing Didier Drogba back to Stamford Bridge this summer, it is clear the Chelsea boss rules with his head not his heart.

Drogba has a wealth of knowledge to pass on to the clubs young strikers and, as he has demonstrated, even at 36 he has plenty to offer as an impact sub.

Chelsea have an abundance of midfield talent at their disposal and sentiment alone would have kept Lampard in West London into his 37th year.