Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho says England midfielder Steven Gerrard may regret his decision to stick with Liverpool.
The 25-year-old seemed to be on the brink of a move to Chelsea this summer - only to sign a new Liverpool deal.
"It will be a loss for him, for his career. He can say 'I was European champion at Liverpool' and that is correct," Mourinho told The Times.
"But I can say to him in the next 10 years we will compare trophies at Chelsea and Liverpool. And he'll lose."
Mourinho admitted the capture of Gerrard would have been a great boost to his team.
"Gerrard is a great player and we want an English core very much," he said.
"We normally play a midfield triangle and you can imagine that Gerrard and Frank Lampard, with Claude Makelele just behind them as protection, could be a very strong team but I think it is Gerrard's loss more than Chelsea's.
"Why? Because Chelsea have good solutions; a good team with the conditions to improve and a club that will be one of the best in the world in a short period of time."
Mourinho also believes that the forthcoming campaign may prove to be tougher for the Blues than last season's runaway title success.
"The others are better and we can't do better," he added.
"We lost only one game and we broke every record in the English game to win the title. How do you improve on that?"
The outspoken Portuguese said he would not hesitate to speak his mind during the forthcoming season - even if it meant he would get into trouble.
"I won't think twice, I won't think about my image. I won't think about the punishment," he said.
"I will just jump in. If I feel my team needs protection, I will be there again."
Walk on, walk on, with hope in your heart,
And you'll never walk alone...
You'll never walk alone.