Fabian Delph - Signed for Manchester City

[Dante Lavelli]

Ultimately my view, is Delph replaceable - Yes .

I think there is justification to debate how good Delph is, but I'm struggling with the replaceable bit.  Look at his contemporaries in the  england midfield - Wilshire, Henderson, Milner, Barkley, Lallana, The Ox - there are debates about whether they are good enough all the time, but could we buy any of them.  Not a chance.  We could shop abroad but that comes with its own risks and no guarantees that the player would be any better than Delph, especially for 10m.

[LTA]

Can't question his loyalty can you. A big pay rise and a £10 mil release clause.

If this is true it's no wonder he signed a long contract, it didn't tie him down at all. I reckon it's bull, we wouldn't be so stupid surely?

Sadly I wouldn't put anything past Lerner and Fox.  Lets be realistic here, if anyone offers Delph a big pay rise and a shot at honours, there is no way he can turn down.

[citizenDJ]

If there is such a clause, for that sort of price I'd imagine it's a relegation release clause.


Right?

[silhillvilla]

The curse of the England call up strikes again.

[Ron Manager]

Its all very unsettling isn't it......everything about the club at this point in time.

[cdbearsfan]

The article calls us 'relegation threatened.' Last time I looked it was 26th June and a ball hasn't been kicked this season yet.

It then goes on to say that Delph has us 'over a barrel' despite there not being the slightest indication he is looking to leave even if there is such a clause in his contract.

Truly p**s poor effort.

It says we were "relegation-threatened" when he signed his contract. Which we were. "Over a barrel", again referring to the situation when he signed, not now, is journalistic hyperbole but not far from the truth bearing in mind he had a few months left on his contract and looked certain to leave for nothing.

Delph leaving would be an utter disaster.

[cdbearsfan]

Can't question his loyalty can you. A big pay rise and a £10 mil release clause.

If this is true it's no wonder he signed a long contract, it didn't tie him down at all. I reckon it's bull, we wouldn't be so stupid surely?

If the choice was between: offer him a new contract which allows him to leave for £10 million or: don't offer him a new contract and allow him to leave for £0, I'm struggling to see how anyone could suggest that the option chosen was "stupid".

[silhillvilla]

Ultimately my view, is Delph replaceable - Yes .

I think there is justification to debate how good Delph is, but I'm struggling with the replaceable bit.  Look at his contemporaries in the  england midfield - Wilshire, Henderson, Milner, Barkley, Lallana, The Ox - there are debates about whether they are good enough all the time, but could we buy any of them.  Not a chance.  We could shop abroad but that comes with its own risks and no guarantees that the player would be any better than Delph, especially for 10m.

Of course we'd have to gear down a level and go for the likes of Nzonzi and Will Hughes

[cdbearsfan]

Whenever I've seen Will Hughes I've failed to see what all the fuss is about. I think if he was at Delph's standard yet he'd already be playing at a higher level than Derby. Of course he could and possibly will get better, but we don't have much time to wait.

We'd need a potential Delph replacement to hit the ground running. Struggling to think of anyone in the UK we could feasibly get who would meet the criteria. N'Zonzi, maybe. But if he's so good, wouldn't Stoke be busting a gut to keep him?

[Clampy]

This pertains to a holistic view and our clubs need for a step change.

So we sell our best midfielder in order to change?

I will let sherwood decide .

A convenient way to wiggle out of an argument when your wrong eh?

I'm not arguing and I'm far from wrong. Maybe you are.  It's a debate . A valid one in my opinion . Ultimately my view, is Delph replaceable - Yes .
Is he the man to build a team around ? My view  - not sure. Debatable .
How has he done overall as a villa player ? He's done well at villa which is all relative in the grand scheme of things.

You see, what happened last night was you randomly posted something for the sake of it, not realising that you posted something completely different a week before then spent the rest the rest of the evening trying to back track on what you said and all you did was make yourself look a bit silly. Now today, you're saying the story may not even be true. You sometimes seriously don't have a clue what you're saying.

[footyskillz]

Clubs, agents and players even ask media outlets to put out stuff. Man city could pay the mirror to put a story in paper no problems . Just as much a agent or player could ask them to write a story. And just as much. As a journo,  blog or social media could. Just make anything up. And they can also speak truth. Delph wouldn't make that statement if he was potentially leaving unless relegated

[kippaxvilla2]

All this business about Citeh wanting home grown players.  They had two that they could have offered new contracts to. Namely Milner and Richards that they chose to let go.  The moot point being that they might not have stayed unless guaranteed first team football. 

Which is exactly the sort of place Delph would be if he chose to leave.  That is even if we assume for one minute it's even remotely as straightforward as a £10m release clause which I don't think it is.

[Clampy]

Can't question his loyalty can you. A big pay rise and a £10 mil release clause.

If this is true it's no wonder he signed a long contract, it didn't tie him down at all. I reckon it's bull, we wouldn't be so stupid surely?

Sadly I wouldn't put anything past Lerner and Fox.  Lets be realistic here, if anyone offers Delph a big pay rise and a shot at honours, there is no way he can turn down.

If any cubs had wanted him, they would have contacted his agent ages ago. They knew he was out of contract this summer. What's so hard to understand about that?

[dekko]

I'm not worrying about this.

If there really is just a 10 mil clause then it could be a problem somewhere down the line, but I'd be shocked if he went anywhere before next summer.

[Dave]

All this business about Citeh wanting home grown players.  They had two that they could have offered new contracts to. Namely Milner and Richards that they chose to let go.

They offered new contracts to both of them.

They reportedly offered to make Milner their joint-highest paid player.