Aston Villa’s Fabian Delph has just become my new personal hero.
Not because I hold loyalty towards the Birmingham outfit or any of Manchester City’s title rivals; not because his aggressive style of midfield combat is laced with shades of my boyhood hero, Scott Parker; and not because ‘geezer gaffer’ Tim Sherwood probably has his wife knitting together yet another highly fashionable gilet as we speak, in honour of the Villa captain snubbing two-time Premier League champions to stay at a club that haven’t finished higher than 15th place since 2010.
No, Fabian Delph is my new personal hero because during a summer transfer window dominated by the unprofessional acts of Raheem Sterling, the Villains skipper has destroyed the stereotype of young, inherently disloyal England internationals only caring about signing on bonuses and the number of convertibles in their garage.
Delph was one successful medical away from picking up a possible £100k-per-week at Manchester City. He hadn’t joined up with the Villa squad for their pre-season training camp in Portugal after his £8m release clause was met, he’d informed the club hierarchy of his intentions to leave last Friday and was subsequently removed from all images on the Villains’ official Twitter page. All it would’ve taken was a relatively short trip to Manchester on Saturday morning to seal the deal. The Birmingham outfit even signed a replacement in Lille midfielder Idrissa Gueye last week.
Yet, sometime between Friday evening and dawn on Saturday, Delph decided not to venture up the M6, securing a rare victory for football over finance despite the Premier League’s increasingly corporate shift.
Without intending to sound disrespectful or patronising, Delph recognised his place in the world – or perhaps more importantly, his place at Manchester City. A decent centre-mid the 25 year-old certainly is, and in truth, he could probably be plying his trade with a club a little higher up the food chain than Aston Villa – an Everton, a Spurs or a Swansea City, perhaps.
Yet, nothing throughout the midfielder’s career thus far has suggested he’s made of title-winning material. He’s never made it into the PFA Team of the Year, he’s yet to lift any silverware and he only broke into Roy Hodgson’s England squad – despite its overall dearth of talent – at the start of last season.
He’s certainly no long-term successor to Yaya Toure – a ten-goal per-season centre-mid widely regarded as one of world football’s best – and he’s also worryingly similar in style to fellow box-to-boxer Fernandino, whilst lacking the Champions League exposure of anchorman Fernando. Deficient in experience and arguably talent to all three, it was obvious City had targeted Delph to improve their homegrown quota, not their starting XI. Footballers are, by nature, a self-assured bunch, but the midfielder must have known his nationality was more important to City than his ability.
Many players have arrived at Eastlands under that pretence before. You can’t imagine the club’s negotiators bringing it up during contract discussions but nonetheless, there’s always been a tacit understanding of why City have signed certain players – Scott Sinclair, Jack Rodwell, Richard Wright and even Frank Lampard – whilst refusing to sell the likes of James Milner and Micah Richards. Their homegrown starting continent begins with Joe Hart and ends at Gael Clichy; thus they’ve been trapped in a purgatory of acquiring English players for the squad’s fringe to escape the wrath of UEFA and the FA for the last five years.
Ask Sinclair, Rodwell or Wright, and they’ll tell you they joined City because it’s an opportunity they couldn’t turn down; the shot at performing beyond all expectations to become a resident fixture in a title-winning side. Yet, you can’t help but feel the endless fortunes thrown at them in wages was a significant factor, too, and you can’t help but feel none were truly given a chance to break into City’s starting XI.
Delph could have been the next addition to that list. He could have been paid £100k per week to stroll around Man City’s training complex and make occasional appearances in the Capital One Cup for the next four years, the only grounds for him doing so being his nationality and sensationally cheap £8m release clause.
But in a refreshing change from the norm, he decided not to become yet another notch on the Citizens’ home-grown bedpost, instead opting for weekly Premier League football. There are bigger pleasures in this life than simply a healthy bank balance, and the beautiful game, especially at Delph’s level, is certainly one of them.
Some will question the Three Lions midfielder’s ambition, but if he’s that good; if he deserves to be playing for a title contending club; the opportunity to join one will undoubtedly come his way again. Meanwhile, City are now faced with the prospect of signing homegrown players who can actually improve their squad, rather than simply paying them to miss out on the best years of their careers for the sake of FA regulations.
So here’s to Delph; an England international who chose regular football and loyalty to his club over a small fortune. Here’s to Delph; the man who the sixth-richest football club in the world couldn’t pay off. Here’s to Delph; a much-needed reminder that not every young footballer is driven exclusively by money. Here’s to Delph; my new personal hero.
