New York City Fc will oppose any move from Manchester City that will see them keep Frank Lampard for longer than the agreed loan period.
Lampard has recently hit form at City since his loan move over the summer, scoring once against Chelsea and twice in the Capital One Cup rout of Sheffield Wednesday.
His run of form has prompted suggestions that he may be needed by Manuel Pellegrini beyond the length of his current loan spell which is expected to end in January. Pellegrini hasn’t ruled out the possibility but sources in America have stressed that the player is important to their campaign and needs to start pre-season training in the new year after building a marketing strategy around him and selling tickets due to his transfer.
Asked about the Lampard stories on Tuesday this week, NYCFC coach Jason Kreis said: ‘There is no truth in this rumour at all.’
The MLS season doesn’t start until March and there is an argument that Lampard won’t need a pre-season if he has been playing with City. However, it is understood that officials in New York see Lampard as their big sell this season — even more so than fellow summer signing David Villa — and want him available for their training camp and a series of warm-up games.
Lampard steered clear of the issue on Thursday, saying he would let the two clubs make the decision.
‘I’m contracted here until the start of January and that is how it is at the moment,’ he said.
‘More than that, I don’t know. The argument (about me staying) has only come up since I scored at the weekend. The important thing for me is to train well, play well and then see what happens.
‘I signed on here until January so that is all I can say. When I signed for Man City on loan, six weeks or so ago, it was always until January and that is the way it remains so I wouldn’t want to get too far ahead of myself.
‘It is not my place to do that. It would be a club decision, first and foremost. I will train and play as well as I can and the rest is up to the club.’
Lampard had been at Chelsea for 13 years prior to joining City and it has clearly been a challenge to adjust to a new environment. ‘Yes, it’s been very different,’ he admitted. ‘I was at Chelsea such a long time you just go along on auto-pilot in the end. You know how it is, you drive in every day, you know everybody behind the scenes.
‘It was a tester for me to come here. I didn’t have to make this decision but it was a very good opportunity for me to train and play at this level which arose.
‘And it is a personal test to come up to Manchester and be up here for this six months, or five months, whatever it is. I was very much in a comfort zone at Chelsea. I worked at Chelsea for 13 years, trained there, played there and now it is different. It is good to test yourself in life and all I can say is that I am enjoying it.
‘I’m very fortunate. Not many players at the age of 36 get the opportunity to come and play among these players. When you look around the dressing room there is so much quality and that is a real honour for me to come and play amongst that.’
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