Manuel Pellegrini hopes Frank Lampard will stay at Manchester City

Manuel Pellegrini has denied New York City FC will be upset if Frank Lampard extends his loan beyond December, with the manager stating they are having "long conversations" with Manchester City's sister club to resolve the situation.

The manager wants the midfielder to continue at the champions and Lampard has indicated he wants to stay on longer. Pellegrini believes the 36-year-old’s future at City will be finalised in the coming days.

Lampard was signed as a marquee player for NYC yet despite this the City manager is adamant the MLS club will not have any issues if he remains at City.

Asked if NYC would be upset if Lampard stays, Pellegrini said: “I don’t think so. That is why we have long conversations with all of them. I hope Frank’s situation will be resolved in the next days. I said in the beginning it will be during December we are going to have the last decision. I repeat Frank is very important for our team so I hope he will stay here.”

Chelsea's 2-0 win at Stoke City on Monday evening re-established their three point lead over the champions and Pellegrini believes it is important for his side to keep up the chase. "We are not thinking about Chelsea, we are thinking about just our team," said the manager. "We know it is important to have our own pressure. You never win the title in December. We have a long five months to continue playing as well as we are doing so far, and we will see at the end of the season which team has most points."

Of his injured players only Stevan Jovetic, who trained on Tuesday morning, and Vincent Kompany have a chance for the Boxing Day trip to West Bromwich Albion. "I am not a doctor so it is difficult for me (to say). Maybe Jovetic and Kompany will be soon, the end of this week or next week. Edin Dzeko and Sergio Agüero will be the second part of January," the manager said.

Guardian Service