When Frank Lampard left Chelsea to Manchester City at the age of 36 in 2014, few expected the international of England to be a little more than an ambassador. He was much more than that.
In the Sheikh Mansour era, the record of Man City with free transfers was downright erratic.
During the 2009-10 season, for example, the club brought three players for nothing: third-choice keeper Stuart Taylor (28), veteran Brazilian wing-back Sylvinho (35) and former Arsenal captain Patrick Vieira (33).
It is not surprising that nobody had a profound impact on the field. The only important consequence of those deals was in fact the conversion of Vieira to a 'football development leader' when hanging his boots.
But if a aging Vieira seemed like a strange signature, the Frenchman's pension coincided with a strange piece of Bosman company.
After having hardly kicked a ball for three whole seasons, the former English and Manchester United midfielder Owen Hargreaves were at the start of the 2011-12 season with a MAN City deal.
Nobody could get their heads around it: some suspected that the move was meant to annoy United States, while Stadsbaas Roberto Mancini suggested that it had more to do with financially fair play.
Anyway, the 30-year-old would only appear four performances in his few years in the city, to never play again.
In many ways, City had signs of Frank Lampard in 2014 parallels with the move of Hargreaves.
Both players' milk a former midfielder of England-Werden signed by a top rival at the highest level, and both had considerably a clear abuse of their previous clubs (in Manchester United and Chelsea respectively).
Both clearly had something to prove.
The only obvious difference between the two deals was their level of coverage: few teams were interested in the non -bonded Hargreaves, while Lampard ended up in a contractual maze between two interconnected clubs.
Before you concern the details of the transfer, it is worth remembering that the last season of Lampard in Chelsea had been a stranger.
While the return of Jose Mourinho in 2013 was like playing opportunities for the old guard, Lampard was used in 2013-14 saver than other survivors of the early Abramovich era.
While John Terry and Petr Cech each clocked more than 3000 minutes Premier League play time, Lampard only played 1,701.
Just as he would do with Wayne Rooney in 2016-17, Mourinho had a legend of the photo of the first team calmly and professionally.
The departure of Lampard was confirmed shortly before the start of the 2014 World Cup, so that the midfielder denied a reunion with the recurring Didier Drogba.
The arrival of Super Frank in Man City was confused. On July 24, the midfielder had announced his intention to sign for newly formed MLS side New York City FC
But with the debut campaign of that club that only starts in March 2015, Lampard's immediate plans were unknown.
Less than two weeks later, New York City announced that their selection framework would be at Manchester City on loan – a claim that turned out not to be true at all, because Lampard was not yet owned by the American Club and actually a short -term contract in Manchester.
With Lampard now 36 years old, few expected the midfielder to have a lot for the ruling champions.
Even city boss Manuel Pellegrini tried to dampen expectations: “[Lampard] Will fight for his position, “he said. “He knows we have a very good team. We have many players in his position; He is more of a player. “
The message was clear: Lampard would fill the space on the couch and replace the departing Gareth Barry and Jack Rodwell, do not compete for a starting point for Yaya Toure, David Silva and Fernandinho.
Despite those management reservations, despite the darkness of the transfer and despite the craziness of seeing Lampard in Sky Blue, the enchantment of the Englishman in Man City came to a flying start.
On September 21, 2014, he made a cameo appearance from the bank in his second performance for the club and scored a diving volley to save a 1-1 draw.
The opponent in that match? None other than Mourinho's Chelsea.
“I am a bit lost for words,” Lampard said after the game. “I didn't expect to come and score that way.
“I came up and the Chelsea fans sang, and that is emotional. Then I play for this club, which also took me brilliantly, so I'm really stuck here. “
But that dramatic moment was only the start of a strange successful season for the 36-year-old.
In contrast to Hargreaves, who scored a memorable goal on his city debut before he returned to the treatment room, Lampard went into force.
He scored a brace and offered two assists in his next match – a competition cup match against Sheffield on Wednesday – and added another against Hull in the next league match.
He was named City's Player of the Month for September, and mid-October the Evergreen midfielder gave two assists from the bank in a 4-1 hammering from Tottenham.
Although Lampard rarely started with competitions-22 of his 32 league performances came from the Bank-Die part-time role was conducive to good performance and, crucial, goals.
The midfielder closed the season with six in the Premier League and scored every 165 minutes. That hit rate improved his last year in Chelsea considerably, in which he scored a goal every 284 minutes.
In essence, Lampard has contributed much more than someone expected that he would do that.
Although his mattering of late performances contributed only 989 minutes in the competition, he made just as many performances as David Silva and, surprisingly, three more than Yaya Toure.
He even clocked more minutes than Edin Dzeko, Stevan Jovetic and Big-Money January who signed Wilfried Bony.
Whatever the first motivations behind the transfer are, City Going Lampard Free used SprrewD company.
However, there was one black mark on the only season of Lampard in Man City.
With 79 points at the end of the Premier League season, City finished second, a whole eight points behind the final winner.
That winner was of course Chelsea, the club that Lampard had considered too old to do the company.
Was he? It is clearly not, but regardless of that headline-grabbing volley in September, Chelsea was justified to let their talisman go: Cesc Fabregas and Nemanja Matic enjoyed great seasons in the central midfield, and Lampard, for all its symbolic value, would be superfluous have been.
Although Lampard could not collect silverware in Man City, his surprising CODA in the Etihad should do an important achievement in his career.
After Chelsea Exile and International Retirement, Lampard was all written off-another fading star on the way to the semi-retirement of MLS.
But by taking on a final challenge in the Premier League – and a huge – Lampard managed to squeeze out every drop of its considerable talents. (And that does not mean anything about his equally impressive enchantment in New York City).
No matter how weird he looked in Sky Blue, that year in Man City was a huge success.
By Benedict O'Neill
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