Frank Lampard Loan Extension Boosts Manchester City but Is Body Blow for MLS

2014 was a year of many surprises in the Premier League, but one of the last developments of the calendar year is about as unsurprising as it gets:

For posterity's sake, here is the official word from Major League Soccer, courtesy of a staff report: "New York City FC on Wednesday confirmed that Frank Lampard will remain with Manchester City through the end of the club's current season, allowing for Lampard to participate in Manchester City's English Premier League and UEFA Champions League campaigns."

The indicators on Lampard's extended stay in Manchester have been omnipresent in recent days.

"With Yaya Toure on African Nations Cup duty for up to five weeks at the start of January, (Manuel) Pellegrini has told the City hierarchy of the need to hold on to Lampard for longer," wrote David McDonnell on Christmas Day for the Mirror.

As McDonnell noted, Lampard's (perhaps) unexpectedly strong play for City this season has contributed greatly to the Sky Blues' interest in delaying his departure for New York. Lampard has six goals in 15 matches in all competitions for City so far this season.

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Lampard's equalizer against his former club, Chelsea, helped keep the Citizens within reach of the London club at the summit of the league table.

Keeping Lampard in Manchester for the remainder of the season also serves City's interests in the Champions League. "City failed UEFA’s FFP tests last season and must include five homegrown players in a restricted 21-man Champions League squad—of which Lampard will be one," wrote Sami Mokbel for the Daily Mail in August.

For a time, it looked like City would not qualify for the Champions League knockout stage, and therefore the need to keep Lampard for "homegrown player" reasons was set to be rendered moot.

All that changed when City slipped past AS Roma and into the Champions League round of 16 against Barcelona. Even with Toure back for the Barcelona exertions, City would far prefer having Lampard available to relying on an under-21 player or someone else of lesser caliber.

Nobody doubted any of the foregoing reasons for City to want to extend Lampard's time at the Etihad, which is why it came as no surprise when the announcement finally came down.

City's opponents for the remainder of this season are likely chagrined at the news. But Major League Soccer and New York City FC supporters may well be devastated by it.

Lampard has been at the forefront of NYCFC's effort to gain a foothold in MLS as it prepares for its debut season to begin in March. 

"New York City FC, Major League Soccer’s 20th expansion team, is thrilled to announce the signing of England National Team and Chelsea FC legend Frank Lampard," wrote Janine Padilla for the fledgling MLS club in August.

Why wouldn't NYCFC be excited? "One of the most illustrious and respected English Premier League midfielders of all time, Lampard becomes the team’s fourth team member, as the Club continues to assemble a competitive and dynamic squad ahead of its inaugural season," Padilla continued.

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And if NYCFC was pumped, imagine how MLS commissioner Don Garber felt. After all, Garber was on record as far back as October 2012 saying per Sky Sports that "Frank Lampard's a great player. If he decides he wants to play in Major League Soccer, I'm sure any club would be happy to have him on their roster."

NYCFC naturally built much of its sales pitch around Lampard, and that sales pitch worked.

"(T)he expansion club has a coach, six players and more than 10,000 season-tickets sold for the inaugural campaign at Yankee Stadium. The club reached that number for season-ticket holders in less than six months," wrote Stefan Bondy for the New York Daily News in October.

Lampard's continued participation with Manchester City is marginally beneficial to both NYCFC and MLS, in that when Lampard finally does don an NYCFC kit, he will do so as a recently relevant player in the Premier League rather than as a has-been.

But try telling that to Garber, or to NYCFC head coach Jason Kreis, or NYCFC sporting director Claudio Reyna—all of whom have prepared for NYCFC's launch with Lampard on the pitch in March.

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Reyna is putting on a brave face: "(Lampard's) exact starting date with New York City FC will be confirmed as the EPL and MLS seasons unfold." Reyna basically has no choice.

The new club's season-ticket holders may not be so understanding.

NYCFC's season-ticket holders invested in what promises to be a trying first season in MLS, with Lampard's presence being a significant reason to buy in. Ticket buyers in other MLS cities who made a special effort to secure a ticket to see Lampard when NYCFC comes to town may also be stuck now.

Manchester City have done the only intelligent thing they could do by extending Lampard's contract with the Citizens.

Champions League knockout round berths are not automatic. Neither are legitimate chances to win the Premier League. City possess both of those right now, so they need Lampard right now.

Spare a thought, though, for a smaller league and one of its expansion clubs, both of whom hoped to carve out some space in a crowded world football landscape with Lampard coming on.

All of that is going to have to wait, says Manchester City.