Yahoo Sport 
Manchester City Fan View: Fabian Delph could be a valuable asset for Pep Guardiola
Manchester City have been blessed with an abundance of superstar names in midfield in recent years, with the likes of David Silva, Samir Nasri, Kevin De Bruyne, Yaya Toure and Ilkay Gundogan constituting City’s squad in recent campaigns.
However, City have often had midfielders whose solid contributions often go unnoticed and rarely attract the plaudits that they deserve. Players of that ilk include Fernandinho, Nigel de Jong, Gareth Barry and Javi Garcia, the latter of whom improved dramatically towards the end of his spell at City, but was still shipped out.
Of those mentioned, Fernandinho is the one who remains at the Etihad Stadium and, as is the case with many footballers deemed underrated by club supporters and neutral fans alike, his qualities, ability and significance in his outfit’s setup is slowly but surely becoming more readily acknowledged.
Yet there is one player at City whose unerring work ethic, liveliness in the dressing room and determination to impress at any cost. That man is Fabian Delph.
The 27-year-old has been utilised in a variety of midfielder roles during his time at Manchester City, including defensive midfield, central midfield and on the left wing. However, under Pep Guardiola, it has been sensed that the former Aston Villa captain could be converted into a different role – potentially at left back – in order to fit him into the squad in a position of need, making use of the qualities that he has.
His defensive abilities are solid and City’s number 18 could be a useful man to have to cover Benjamin Mendy, with Danilo a natural right back looking sometimes out of place on the left hand side.
Delph will readily admit that the current crop of players at the Etihad is a massive obstacle to overcome in order to get into the matchday squad week in, week out – never mind the starting lineup.
His current situation is similar to that of James Milner, who was a valuable asset to the Blues because of his versatility, tenacity and desire to help the team, despite not being the most technical of football players.
READ MORE: Klopp makes sensational defending claim
READ MORE: FIFA lifts ban on poppies
READ MORE: 5 things we learned from the Premier League
READ MORE: Bilic back in West Ham firing line
Milner left for Liverpool and has featured for Jurgen Klopp at left back, central midfield and out wide. Perhaps Delph could emulate his compatriot’s switch to fullback.
In a City squad with relatively few homegrown players contributing to their quota, Englishman Delph could too become an extremely valuable asset to Guardiola.
Coming off the bench at the weekend against Crystal Palace, Delph seemingly slotted effortlessly right into the City system and injected a real energy into the centre of the park, before going on to score an absolutely phenomenal goal.
His finish came in a game that Leroy Sane, Raheem Sterling and Sergio Aguero all scored, yet it was arguably the fifth and final goal scored by Delph in the last minutes of the fixture that topped the lot.
Delph has only netted a handful of times for the Citizens – but a couple of them have been out of this world. The player himself might not be out of this world, although he might just be the unsung, homegrown, tenacious, versatile utility player that purist Pep Guardiola needs at his disposal.
