Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard has praised the managerial ability of former manager Jose Mourinho amid rumours linking the Portuguese with a return to the West London club.

Lampard played under Mourinho between 2004 and 2007, with the Englishman particularly keen on the Special One's ability to invoke self-confidence in players.

"It's a presence and an aura and a way with people," Lampard told talkSPORT. "He galvanises people. His own self-confidence reflects back on his teams. He did that to me personally.

"Tactically he's fantastic. He's very astute. As a team he sets you up brilliantly. What he does is he gets the best out of players and gets this togetherness that I'd never known until he came to the club and I haven't seen it again since then.

"He might rub people up the wrong way. [However] as a manager, he's brilliant with his team tactically, he's brilliant with individuals and I think he's brilliant with the press. I know it creates a storm, but he does protect his players."

Lampard has recently signed a new one-year deal with Chelsea.