Frank Lampard’s future will be decided this month according to Manuel Pellegrini after the midfielder added to his Manchester City goal tally on the weekend.
The former England star came off the bench to score City’s second in a 3-0 win away to high-flyers Southampton.
And boss Manuel Pellegrini stressed that any possible loan extension for Lampard will be done this month.
“We’re going to have to make the best decision for him, the club, New York City, for everyone,” said Pellegrini after the match.
“I don’t think anyone can find it strange the way Frank Lampard plays football, he knows all about what you must do to win in this sport.
“He’s very happy here in our team, I think that Frank also enjoys the way we play because he makes the difference in the last 25 to 30 metres, so he’s very happy here and we’re very happy with him.”
Lampard’s goal came after Yaya Toure’s second-half opener and defender Eliaquim Mangala was sent off for two bookable offences.
Gael Clichy popped up late on to hand city a comfortable victory which meant Southampton lost their first home game of the season.
Pellegrini believes this could spark a revival as they closed the gap on leaders Chelsea who were held to a 0-0 draw away to Sunderland.
“We can complain about a lot of things from this team this year,” he added.
“But the only thing we cannot complain about in the squad is the spirit, the personality, the character and the ambition to continue winning.”
“In football in one week you can change your position. Chelsea are playing very well and we will see what will happen. We must try to concentrate just on [Wednesday’s game against] Sunderland.”
One talking point from the match saw Sergio Aguero wrongly booked for diving but Pellegrini played down referee Mike Jones’ mistake.
“I saw that it was a penalty but I am not the referee. Sergio never dived, but the referee is human and everyone makes mistakes,” said Pellegrini.
“Maybe if we had drawn 0-0 we would be talking more about this, but we got the result and that’s all that counts.”
Main image courtesy of Sky Sports via YouTube, with thanks.
