In one of those weird moves that went from really quite shocking through to actually quite dull in about two seconds flat, Frank Lampard's loan move to Manchester City from New York City FC has today been confirmed. The 36-year-old will join the reigning Premier League champions on a six-month loan deal. He will wear the No. 18 shirt.
Frank Lampard joins Manchester City on loan
The former Chelsea midfield stalwart will spend the next six months at the Etihad.
Paul Gilham
Lampard, widely regarded as one of Chelsea's greatest players, made 648 appearances for the West London club between 2001 and 2014, and holds their goalscoring record with 211; he is the only midfielder to have scored over 100 goals since the inception of the Premier League. He currently has over 106 caps for England, and while his erstwhile partner Steven Gerrard has recently announced his international retirement, Lampard has not made any such decision.
The move makes sense for Lampard, who will be able to keep himself fit while he waits for his parent club to make their MLS debut in 2015. Having him around will presumably enable City to rest Yaya Toure occasionally, though it’s hard to imagine that he’s going to feature as a regular starter.
The move has ruffled a few feathers elsewhere in the Premier League, with some -- notably Arsene Wenger -- expressing their disquiet at the move. City and NYCFC are under the same ownership, and Wenger’s concerns are that loans between the various clubs (as well as NYCFC, City also control Melbourne City in Australia and Yokohama F Marinos in Japan) might be used a method for evading Financial Fair Play regulations. City have indicated that they will be responsible for paying 100% of Lampard’s wages during his time in Manchester.
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