Manchester City have decided to take every player signed to MLS affiliate club New York City FC on loan for the remainder of the season just in case they are all able to contribute the way Frank Lampard has.

“Chelsea will be tough to beat this season and we need all the help we can get,” said Man City manager Manuel Pellegrini. “NYCFC have provided us with one of our best players so far in this campaign, so we are going to take the rest of them because clearly they have an eye for talent. I know David Villa quite well already from his time in Spain, of course. But Jeb Brovsky? Kwame Watson-Siriboe? We can only imagine they are just as good as Lampard. And at the very least they can’t be worse than Dedryck Boyata.”

The 36-year-old former Chelsea midfielder signed with newly formed NYCFC over the summer and was immediately loaned out to parent club Man City as the MLS side will not begin play until March 2015. Since then, Lampard has surpassed all expectation, scoring six goals across all competitions. Only Sergio Aguero currently has more for the reigning Premier League champions.

Lampard was supposed to return to the New York club in January, but now Man City are eager to keep him longer, along with the rest of his MLS teammates. But this arrangement might not be limited to just the players.

“If I can’t get world-class performances out of these players, then I might take a more limited role and let [NYCFC manager] Jason Kreis take charge for the last few months of the season,” Pellegrini added. “After all, Lampard didn’t play a single match under him before coming to us and yet he still managed to turn him into one of the best players in the Premier League this season. It’s incredible.”

When asked how NYCFC will be able to compete in their inaugural MLS season without any players, Pellegrini replied: “What’s MLS?”