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City could yet hold on to Frank Lampard beyond his current six-month loan to avoid a shortage of midfielders.

The Blues have a problem looming with Yaya Toure expected to link up with the Ivory Coast squad in January and Lampard set to move to New York City squad when his current deal expires in January.

But City may request an extension of the loan to avoid going down to just two central midfielders in Fernando and Fernandinho.

The plan was for Lampard to join the Blues in order to keep his fitness and focus before embarking on his new adventure in Major League Soccer with the newly-formed City franchise.

But New York, managed by ex-City star Claudio Reyna, gather for pre-season training in January - and Lampard will not need to work on his fitness as he will be in the middle of the English season.

Toure has talked about international retirement, but he is likely to make one last attempt to win something with his national team after reaching two finals and two quarter-finals in the last five African tournaments.

That means he is set to miss up to five weeks of City’s season during the intense post-Christmas period – including trips to Chelsea and Everton, and the home clash with Arsenal.