After many rumors and talk about Frank Lampard and his situation with NYCFC and Manchester City, it is now official what will happen. On Thursday, NYCFC announced that Lampard will remain with EPL side Manchester City until the end of the season. This means his debut with NYCFC won’t come until June or July and that is bad news for NYCFC and its fan.
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NYCFC Director of Football Claudio Reyna spoke on the latest Lampard news.
"“Frank is a star and it is no surprise that Manchester City is rewarded by his contributions on the field every single day. He is eager to get to New York once his commitment ends in England and will be available to play on arrival as a permanent member of the squad given he will come to us having played at the highest level.We are all committed to making sure we build a winning team and that our fans get to enjoy great soccer at every single game. The opportunities open in the immediate transfer window combined with our recent successful draft ensure that we can continue to assemble a world-class team that will make New York City soccer fans proud.”"
City benefits the most from this news. Lampard has been a star on the team and helped them remain within the top four. He’ll also be key in other European competitions City competes in like UEFA Champions League.
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On the flip side, NYCFC is without one of their stars in their inaugural season. New York will probably still have a successful 2015 season, but that’s not the point here. They are basically second fiddle to Manchester City. In case you forgot, City owns part of NYCFC. The other portion of the team is owned by the New York Yankees. Lampard was an after thought after the 2013-14 EPL season and wasn’t re-signed by Chelsea. NYCFC found a star in a soon to be 37-year-old and that got NYC citizens pumped about coming to Yankee Stadium. Now those fans will have to wait until half way through the MLS season.
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Lampard’s arrival in June or July to NYCFC is bad news on many levels. First, he doesn’t get the time in preseason to bond and develop chemistry with his news teammates in New York. Secondly, Lampard will be tired when he arrives back to the States. No, not because of his transatlantic flight, but because of all the soccer he’s been playing. We saw it with World Cup stars in 2014. Lampard should have been spending January and February training with NYCFC, but instead he’ll be playing games non-stop from now until May. Lastly, the playing styles of the Premier League and MLS are different. It will take time for Lampard to adjust even though he’s a star.
MLS offered an official statement to Dan Dickinson when asked. It is highly laughable if you ask me.
What makes this situation even more silly is that New York City FC is not being given a player in return while Lampard remains with City. If MLS and City actually respected NYCFC, then they’d have a player sent to NYCFC as some form of compensation for Lampard’s services. Instead, it seems like they just twisted NYCFC’s arm and NYCFC had little say in the matter.
MLS wants NYCFC to have their own identity. However when situations similar to this happen, then it looks like that’s no longer the goal. For now City will have to plan without Lampard. They do have another high-caliber player in David Villa, so his experience should help a young team that will need to develop a team identity and chemistry come the preseason.
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