07-24-2024, 07:42 AM
The fact that Delap has come from Man City means absolutely nothing in terms of his quality. I'm not saying that he's a poor player but the likes of Liverpool and Man Utd have made huge amounts over the years selling utter dross that smaller clubs have paid a premium for just because of whose youth system they came out of. You only have to look at Sheffield United paying £23.5m for Rhian Brewster. Scored loads for England U-17s and was clearly very talented as a kid but barely looks like a footballer these days. I see Ben Woodburn, who was supposed to be a future Liverpool megastar a few years ago, has just joined Salford City on a free at the age of only 24.
Also, if you're going to use Delap's England record as justification of his inflated fee, his scoring record is fairly unimpressive at international level, certainly in the higher age groups (4 goals in 17 games for the U-19s to U-21s).
Also, if you're going to use Delap's England record as justification of his inflated fee, his scoring record is fairly unimpressive at international level, certainly in the higher age groups (4 goals in 17 games for the U-19s to U-21s).