Manchester City have secured former Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard on a six-month loan deal.
The 36-year-old will join up with his new City teammates on Wednesday and will be at the Etihad Stadium until January. It is a short-term move for Lampard who signed in July for New York City FC, the MLS club owned by Manchester City and baseball giants New York Yankees.
It had initially been thought the player had agreed an autumn switch to join City's sister side Melbourne City where he would play alongside New York City teammate David Villa to harpen his fitness ahead of the MLS season whcih begins in March. On Friday, it was reported the club was in talks with Lampard's repersentatives and immediately after City's shootout defeat by Olympiakos in the United States on Saturday, manager Manuel Pellegrini confirmed the move had been completed.
It has also been confirmed that Lampard will be available for the Premier Leaguie showdown with old club Chelsea on Sept. 21. The news will raise some eyebrows at Stamford Bridge with the England midfielder suggesting last year he would not play for another top-flight club in England.
He said in May 2013: "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."
Lampard scored 211 goals in 649 matches for Chelsea, becoming the club's record goalscorer but was released by Chelsea at the end of the season. Lampard, who signed a two-year deal with New York City on July 24, is still considering his England future.
Lampard, who has scored 211 goals for England and Chelsea, became the latest international star to move to MLS. Most famous was David Beckham, who joined the Los Angeles Galaxy in 2007 from Real Madrid.
"I think this is an incredibly exciting time for the league," said New York City FC manager Jason Kreis. Lampard is "a rare talent, one that scores a lot of goals from midfield, yet is also a disciplined defender and someone who reads the game brilliantly."
