Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini has hit out at Chelsea fans following their negative response to Frank Lampard’s move to Eastlands.
The ex-Chelsea midfielder joined the Sky Blues on loan from New York City FC last week after signing with the MLS outfit on a free transfer in July.
Fans of the London side labelled Lampard a traitor, despite him not having been offered a new contract with the club.
“I don’t understand the reaction of Chelsea fans who say he is a traitor,” the City manager said.
“The problem was not that Frank Lampard did not want to sign another contract with Chelsea – Chelsea didn’t want him anymore.”
Pellegrini also hit back at Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger’s remarks that questioned whether the loan move was a way for City to get around Fifa’s Financial Fair Play regulations.
“I think as managers we have enough problems with our own teams to be talking about other teams,” said Pellegrini.
“The only thing I can say is that we have important restrictions about the amount of money we can spend, and Frank Lampard was a free player. We didn’t spend any money in bringing him from New York City to Manchester City.
“He is a competitive player, he will be important for our team and we didn’t spend any money on him, so the rules of financial fair play don’t have any relation with Lampard.”
The City manager also expressed his happiness at the current state of the squad, which has also been boosted by the likes of Bacary Sagna, Willy Caballero and Fernando.
“I’m very happy because I think we have important restrictions from Uefa, but I think we have a stronger team than last year.
“The four players that have arrived for the moment will be very important for us.”
He revealed little about the situation regarding French defender Eliaquim Mangala, however, who could join City from Porto.
“I always say the same answer : when things are finished, we can talk about that.
“For the moment, Mangala is not our player,” he said.
Pellegrini then went on to speak about Ivorian midfielder Yaya Toure’s position at the club, which has also come under some speculation.
“There were a lot of different reports about a lot of things but Yaya doesn’t have any problems,” he said.
“He works normally here, he wants to stay here, he is very happy here.
“With most things that everyone talked about during the summer, I never heard Yaya talking about them. Other people yes, but not Yaya.”
The comments come as City prepare to face Arsenal in the Community Shield at Wembley on Sunday – with many of the Sky Blues’ star players sidelined.
Along with Lampard and Sagna, Sergio Aguero, Pablo Zabaleta, Martin Demichelis, Fernandinho, Alvaro Negredo and captain Vincent Kompany will also be unavailable.
City’s provisional team sheet for the fixture is as follows: Hart, Caballero, Wright, Boyata, Clichy, Rekik, Kolarov, Nastasic, Richards, Fernando, Garcia, Milner, Nasri, Navas, Silva, Sinclair, Toure, Dzeko, Guidetti, Jovetic.
Main image courtesy of ITV via YouTube, with thanks.
