Frank Lampard: Do Manchester City Respect New York City FC?

If Frank Lampard's loan is extended, Manchester City are treating New York City FC as the little brother that gets pushed around. 

When Manchester City and the New York Yankees collaborated to launch Major League Soccer franchise New York City FC, the aim was to expand soccer's popularity in the Big Apple.

The major signings of Lampard—a UEFA Champions League and Premier League-winning goalscoring midfielder—and David Villa—a FIFA World Cup-winning centre-forward—kick-started the interest in New York City FC.

Instead of being in a New York state of mind, Lampard is playing for Manchester City.

Opportunities to market the New York City FC brand are being lost, and now Manchester City want to keep Lampard longer, per David McDonnell at the Daily Mirror.  

Lampard should be acting in the best interests of New York City FC.

Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini acknowledged the complicated situation. 

"It's not so easy because Frank is a New York City FC player," Pellegrini said, per Stuart Brennan at the Manchester Evening News. "We must respect the other people."

The "other people" being New York City FC sporting director Claudio Reyna and head coach Jason Kreis. 

Reyna planned for Lampard to commence preseason on time with New York City FC, per Brian Lewis at the New York Post.

Reyna's plans are reinforced by Kreis, who will hold a "warm weather training camp in Florida" starting in late January, the club announced in early December. 

"In an ideal world, for me, we want our players to be with us from day one," Kreis said, per Andrew Das at The New York Times. "And day one for us is January 24."

Initially, Lampard would keep his match-fitness levels up by being loaned out to Manchester City with his deal expiring on January 1, 2015, according to his agent, Steve Kutner, per Stefan Bondy at the New York Daily News. 

Jetting back to New York, Lampard will have three weeks to re-acclimatise, spread the word about New York City FC and prepare for pre-season. 

Lampard's loan to Manchester City seemed like the perfect plan.

Unfortunately, it was a double-edged sword.

Positive: New York City FC are right to pay top dollar for Lampard, who has scored more goals in the Premier League (four) than Manchester United's £59.7 million-valued Angel Di Maria (three) this season.

Negative: By being Manchester City's fourth top scorer in the Premier League despite only averaging 25.4 minutes per game, Lampard is an invaluable member of Pellegrini's midfield rotation, which has led to this awkward impasse for New York City FC.

Pellegrini losing Yaya Toure to the Africa Cup of Nations means it is inevitable that Lampard will spend the start of 2015 at Manchester City.

"One of the reasons we asked [Lampard] to play here was because we knew Yaya would be leaving us to go to the African Cup of Nations," Pellegrini said, per Richard Jolly at ESPN FC. "I'm confident [Lampard will] stay but I can't say 100 percent because it doesn't depend just on me."

You know who won't have a say? MLS commissioner Don Garber.

"I am sure in due time [New York City FC] will be able to deal with this issue but it is not something that the league is going to weigh in on in any way," Garber said, per Simon Evans at Reuters. "I have great confidence in the management in New York."

Without Manchester City owner Sheikh Mansour's financial backing, New York City FC would not be a reality.

What's best for Manchester City? Extending Lampard's loan.

What's worse for New York City FC? Extending Lampard's loan.

It will be a public-relations embarrassment for New York City FC should they start their inaugural season without Lampard, especially when soccer is striving to become more mainstream in the United States.

"This is probably one of the most—if not the most—hopeless sports years in the history of New York City," Newark Star-Ledger sports columnist Jerry Izenberg said, per Andrew Marchand at ESPN. "This was a no-hope year."

Matthew Lewis/Getty Images

Lampard sitting on the Manchester City bench is not going to capture the hearts and minds of the disenfranchised fans from other New York sporting codes.

If Villa, who has won the World Cup, is bringing publicity to New York City FC, why is Lampard exempt from his promotional duties?

Lampard risks being viewed by his New York City FC teammates in a negative light, a la Landon Donovan calling out David Beckham for his lack of commitment to the Los Angeles Galaxy, per Grant Wahl's book, The Beckham Experiment (h/t CNN).

Rewind back to Lampard's speech. 

"I am really excited about joining New York City FC and helping to play a real part in building something special in one of the sporting capitals of the world," Lampard said, per NYCFC.com. "I just can't wait to get started and be part of it."

Like Rex Ryan's empty Super Bowl guarantees to the New York Jets fanbase, Lampard will not live up to his word should he accept a longer stay at Manchester City.

+allanjiang

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