2.3k shares share tweet sms send email By: | January 2, 2015 10:59 am A question for soccer fans of the world: Who owns Frank Lampard? Getting over the weirdness of saying a person is “owned” by a soccer team, the prolific English midfielder is technically owned by MLS upstart New York City FC. But he won’t be with NYC for the start of MLS season, because the team he is being loaned to, Manchester City, a team that has the same ownership group as NYC, needs him. And even though you could argue NYC needs Lampard pretty badly itself, that doesn’t seem to matter. According to City coach Manuel Pellegrini, Lampard will be with his club until the end of the Premier League season. Leading us all to wonder: Just who is in control of Lampard right now? Lampard at his NYCFC introduction. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle) When new MLS club NYCFC launched last year, they did so with considerable fanfare. The team would be playing in Yankee Stadium. They signed 33-year-old Spanish striker David Villa, whoscored five goals in Spain’s winning World Cup bid in 2010. And then there was the big one — the news that the team had Lampard, the highest goalscoring English midfielder in Premier League history. Then the bit of strange news: Lampard had signed for NYC, but he would immediately be loaned to Manchester City for this Premier League season. Skeptics wondered who was really in control of the situation — NYC owned Lampard, but if he succeeded at Manchester City, would they be able to recall him away from the bigger club? (AP Photo/Jon Super) It doesn’t appear they will. Lampard has been fantastic for Manchester City this year, and it seems the club underestimated how important he would be to its success. He started scoring, and all the talk of him being with NYCFC for the start of the MLS campaign evaporated. Then Pellegrini let the bomb drop. The following, , is Pellegrini speaking to press after Lampard scored a game-winning goal for City against Sunderland this week: “You are talkingMay or June? You cannot have all different questions about Frank Lampard. He will stay now with us until the end of the season. In May maybe you can start thinking about what will happen in the future. He will stay with us until May.” Asked if there was any chance Lampard could move to NYC before the end of the season, Pellegrini added: “No. When you asked me before we qualified for the Champions League if there is some link between the situations, I always said no and Frank knows exactly what I think about that. He will stay here until the end of the season, no problems about that.” So that’s it. Lampard, who is owned by NYCFC and being loaned to Manchester City, will not return to the club that owns him for the start of its inaugural season. The question is: Did NYCFC have any say in what was happening to Lampard? Or did the money invested in Manchester City override any concerns of the smaller club? Another question: Is NYCFC just Manchester City’s JV team? An extra American reserveteam for the big Premier League club? Don't be mad at ; it wasn't their choice to make. Supporters need to move on to an American club. No need to be JV team for UAE. — S Cramer (@ProjectMan18) The whole thing stinks a bit, but the people getting the rawest end of the deal are NYCFC season-ticket holders. NYCFC put Lampard on marketing materials, used the promise of him as a tactic to sell season tickets. Now its star player won’t be with the team, because the bigger English club needs him more. “You don’t buy tickets to see the Jonas Brothers and then want to find out that Nick Jonas isn’t there,” New York City FC season-ticket holder Zach Dixon said. “And the thing that it was just talked about for so long, that Lampard would stay with Man City, it just leaves a bitter taste in my mouth.” Reuters Photo MLS players have been loaned out to bigger European clubs before, from Landon Donovan joining Everton to David Beckham spending time with AC Milan. But none of those teams was owned bythe same people as the players’ MLS club. This is a unique situation. And it’s a situation that has led some to argue NYCFC should just move on from Lampard. Simon Evans of the Guardian argued (pretty convincingly) that and start over, using their Designated Player spot on a younger, hungrier talent that has no ties to Manchester City. If they don’t, fans of the new MLS team will be hanging in limbo, waiting for the bigger European club to decide that Lampard is (finally) surplus to requirements and able to join and help the team in its pivotal first year. “I’ve been a Chelsea fan for most of my life,” said Dixon. “Lampard is my second-or-third favorite player of all time, and when I got season tickets, I did it partly because of him. I’m happy I waited to buy my jersey though, because if I spent $120 on a Lampard matchday kit, and found out he may never join the team, I would be furious.” New York City FC referred For The Win Claudio Reyna: “Frank is a star and it is no surprise thatManchester 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.” , , , ,