Lampard makes New York City move

adamhigginsuk
Jul 24, 2014
3 min read

A familiar end: Lampard joins the likes of Jermain Defoe, Thierry Henry, Robbie Keane and Tim Cahill in moving from the Premier League to the MLS to finish their esteemed careers (Picture from Flickr.com)

FORMER Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard has agreed to join new Major League Soccer franchise New York City FC, signing a two-year deal.

The 36-year-old ended his 13-year stay at Stamford Bridge once his contract with the Premier League club expired in June.

He is the club's all-time record scorer with 211 goals in 649 appearances after moving from West Ham in June 2001.

Lampard becomes the fourth player at New York City FC, who are owned by Manchester City and Major League Baseball's New York Yankees.

The newly-formed club will play at the Yankee Stadium when they compete in their first MLS campaign in 2015.

Their sporting director Claudio Reyna - the former Rangers, Sunderland and Manchester City midfielder - described the deal as "really exciting".

"Frank Lampard is one of the greatest players in Premier League history and in European and world football over the last 15 years. He is a leader and we are extremely delighted to have him here," he said.

Lampard told a press briefing to announce his move that New York City FC "ticked all the boxes" for him when he considered his options.

"It's a very exciting challenge for me in life terms. I've seen a real long-term plan and I wanted to be part of that. I want to test myself, I want to carry on challenging myself.

"I had a fantastic 13 years with Chelsea that I can look back with pride upon. It was a good time for myself and Chelsea that I moved on."

As they build their squad, New York City have already purchased forward David Villa from Spanish champions Atletico Madrid.

Villa has already confirmed he will spend three months on loan at Australia A-League side Melbourne City between October and December.

And Lampard could look for a similar loan spell, or train in England, in order to maintain his fitness.

"I'm going to keep fit, that's the main thing. How I do that is not clear yet. I'm going to sit round with people at the club and sort that out," he added.

During his time at Stamford Bridge, Lampard was Chelsea's vice-captain and won the Premier League title three times, the Champions League once and the Europa League once.

He also won four FA Cups and the League Cup twice and has also gained 106 England caps throughout his career, with his last international appearance coming in the goalless draw against Costa Rica at the 2014 World Cup.

England captain Steven Gerrard announced his retirement from international football last week, and Lampard admitted he would have to consider his own future with the national team.

He added: "In terms of England, I've not had a lot of time after the World Cup. Getting my personal future was the most important, now I have to think about England.

"Now I know where I will be playing my football, I can make that decision and I will do soon."