Former Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho has refused to rule out plundering his old club to boost his Inter Milan squad.

Michael Essien, Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard have already been linked with a move to Inter now that Mourinho has been installed as their new boss.

Lampard is understood to be in discussions with Chelsea about a new long-term extension to his current deal which expires next year.

The England midfielder is believed to want to stay at Stamford Bridge but Chelsea will have to improve his wages if they are to keep him.

Mourinho, who was officially unveiled as Inter's new boss at their training ground on Tuesday, declined to say whether he was interested in signing any of his former players at Stamford Bridge.

Nevertheless, there was no hiding his esteem for the players he had at the Blues and Mourinho admitted he would be willing to buy - if Chelsea are willing to sell.

"I think it is normal as a consequence of the relationship with my players," he said.

"Almost all of them want to work with me again in the future and the same goes for me.

"I have a great relationship with almost all of my players and it is normal that these rumours spread.

"But it depends on whether Chelsea want to sell - there has got to be a relation between what one club wants and what another club wants to do.

"The president knows what I would like, but I am not discussing names with the press."

While Mourinho insists that Inter's squad, which has won three consecutive league titles, does not require major surgery, he accepts that he is in the market for two or three new players.

"I read many things in the papers about Inter needing 60 players," Mourinho said.

"This is not true. I only want 21 players and three goalkeepers. I think the team is good, and I don't need to make revolutionary changes. We think we need two or three players to be more competitive.

"I want to have the possibility to change the philosophy of play. When I read I don't like someone and I want to buy all European players, it's not true.

"I like this group. I like the players and I have big faith in this group. Inter don't want to be the king of the market, but we want to improve two or three players".

Meanwhile, Chelsea's search for a new coach following the sacking of Avram Grant is now focusing around Blackburn boss Mark Hughes and another foreign contender.

Hughes has already been given permission to talk to Manchester City about the possibility of replacing Sven-Goran Eriksson at Eastlands but Chelsea are understood to have added their former player to a two-man wish list.

Influential Chelsea figures met on Monday to discuss the appointment of a new boss and a decision is understood to be imminent - with Hughes and former Inter coach Roberto Mancini regarded as the two favourites.

Mancini has yet to be approached by Chelsea but the London club have increased the pace of their search in the last 24 hours.

Meanwhile, Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech admits that managerial changes are difficult to deal with for all players. Mourinho was sacked by Chelsea last September and Grant followed him out of the door at the end of the season despite leading the Blues to their first Champions League final and pushing Manchester United to the wire in the Barclays Premier League.

"When you change a manager, there is always the atmosphere that you never know what is going to happen because there is a new man coming in, he has got other ideas so some people might play, some might not - so it is always difficult to deal with," admits Cech.

"Everyone has to deal with this individually and as a group. Everyone needs to be together and try to move on and to focus on football, which is not easy to do.

"At a club as Chelsea is, you need to impress a manager every day. If you do not perform well in the training sessions or you don't work hard to show your manager you are ready for the game, you are at the same risk as when a new manager comes in."

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