Manuel Pellegrini believes it is in the best interests of New York City FC that Frank Lampard has agreed to stay with Manchester City for the rest of the Premier League season.
City announced on New Year's Eve that the 36-year-old midfielder had extended his contract at the Etihad Stadium to take in the remainder of their Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup campaigns.
But New York City FC fans' group the Third Rail said they "publicly denounced" the decision and insisted supporters were "outraged" they had bought season tickets to watch a player who will be unavailable for the start of the Major League Soccer season.
Lampard's new contract is with City, not New York City, and Pellegrini did not guarantee that the former England international will ever link up with the MLS outfit.
He said in a news conference: "Maybe all the New York fans, and I understand perfectly, they want to see Frank playing because for the fans in New York to see Frank play is an amazing thing. I hope that he will be there next year but I think that in this moment the best decision for him, for the club, for New York is to stay here with us."
Pellegrini ruled out letting Lampard leave England if and when City are knocked out of the Champions League, adding: "He will stay here until the end of the season, no problems about that."
But he did not say if the veteran will definitely move to New York, saying: "You cannot have all different questions about Frank Lampard. He will stay now with us until the end of the season. Maybe you can start thinking about what will happen in the future. He will stay with us until May."
Lampard came off the bench to score City's winner against Sunderland -- a game he would have been ineligible for had the deal not been agreed in the final hours on Dec. 31.
Sunderland manager Gus Poyet rued Lampard's presence in the City side but refused to complain about his extended deal at the Etihad Stadium.
"For me it's clever, it's smart. It's legal, so I've got no problem with that," he said in his news conference. "It looked to me last week that it was not possible [for Lampard to play] but apparently it was. How I don't know, I'm not an expert on the rules and regulations. But he made a difference, no? He scored the winning goal."