England
midfielder Frank Lampard has confirmed that he will join the MLS team New
York City FC on a two-year contract.
The 36-year-old left Chelsea at the end of last season after a hugely
successful 13-season stint, during which he became the club's all-time
record goalscorer with 211.
He becomes New York City FC's fourth player and will join prolific Spanish
forward David Villa at the new MLS franchise.
New York City FC sporting director Claudio Reyna described Lampard as "one
of the greatest players over the last 15 years" and that the midfielder
"ticked all the boxes" in terms of a signing.
Lampard said: "Why not choose New York City?
"Talking about it ticking all the boxes, personally, for me, it does exactly
the same.
"It's a very exciting challenge for me in life terms.
"I've seen a real long-term plan and I wanted to be part of that. I want to
test myself, I want to carry on challenging myself.
"It was a good time for myself and Chelsea that I moved on."
David Beckham played in the MLS for LA Galaxy but Lampard says that was not
a factor in his decision to move to the States.
"I know David pretty well, but we're not on every day speaking terms," he
said.
"I've spoken to him about his experiences in the MLS but the decision was
all mine.
"There's a lot of new challenges here. I'm coming to a great city and I
wanted to show people that I can play good football."
However, New York City FC will not begin playing until 2015 so there is a
possibility Lampard could line up for another club in the interim on a
short-term basis.
"I'm going to keep fit, that's the main thing," he said. "How I do that is
not clear yet.
"I'm going to sit round with people at the club and sort that out."
Lampard was in the England squad which exited at the Group stages in the
recent World Cup in Brazil and will now have to decide whether he will seel
to continue his international career.
"In terms of England, I've had a bit of time after the World Cup, which was
obviously a huge disappointment," he said.
"I now need to think about England and think about what I want to do next.
"Now I know where I'll be playing my football next year I can make that
decision."
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