Barely days after his departure from Chelsea, Frank Lampard could be set for a shock return to England’s top flight football with a loan move to Manchester City. The 36 year old joined MLS side New York City, partially owned by Manchester City at the end of July. It was believed that the midfielder would feature for City’s sister club Melbourne City but fresh news from last night hint he could play for the Citizens in a six month loan deal.
Speaking at his unveiling in New York, Lampard climed, “I will have to keep fit. I’ll have to train at the very top level, whether that’s on my own or with a club somewhere, I’ll have to see. Of course I’ll keep fit and make sure my levels don’t drop too much. When we come here for pre-season I want to be ready to go. I want to fly out of the blocks. I don’t want to come out sluggish.”
The English midfielder scored 211 goals in 649 matches to become Chelsea’s record goalscorer but was released by the Stamford Bridge side at the end of the 2013-14 season thanks to their policy of dealing with players above 30 years of age. It comes as a major surprise should the player join the Premier League Champion s for he had earlier said, “I can’t imagine playing for anyone else after being 12 years at Chelsea. I’ve got a lot of respect for a lot of other Premier League clubs, particularly the top ones, but I’m not sure I could have done that.“
It would be a shock down the nerves for the Chelsea fans to see the apple of their eye featuring for Manchester City but in all certainty, Lampard would be relegated to the bench with nowhere being even close to claim a starting eleven spot for Manuel Pellegrini’s side. The Englishman will however have to be happy with domestic cup games that too coming off the bench. Things might get interesting if he faces Chelsea in the period of time he is with the Citizens.