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Fabian Delph: Manchester City’s New Defensive Midfielder?

By Cody Griffin

LONDON, ENGLAND - JANUARY 06: Winston Reid of West Ham United and Fabian Delph of Manchester City in action during The Emirates FA Cup Third Round match between West Ham United and Manchester City at London Stadium on January 6, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Ian Walton/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - JANUARY 06: Winston Reid of West Ham United and Fabian Delph of Manchester City in action during The Emirates FA Cup Third Round match between West Ham United and Manchester City at London Stadium on January 6, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Ian Walton/Getty Images) /
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After an exciting offseason training under Pep Guardiola, Fabian Delph has endured an injury-riddled season thus far. Could he be the missing piece?

Manchester City in 2017 is a team packed with identifiable talent at most every position. However there are a handful of key spots in the squad that are sorely in need of an upgrade.

Defensive midfield is a position typically manned by Fernandinho and Fernando. But with Fernando still not up to scratch on the regular, and Dinho’s continued foul trouble, Guardiola has yet to find a viable option in the back middle.

When Fabian Delph signed for City, amid much fanfare, and hatred from Aston Villa fans, his future at Man City looked bright. However, this season Delph has suffered from nagging muscle injuries and other leg injuries for much of the year.

Crystal Palace’s Chung-Yong Lee reacts to a challenge from Manchester City’s Fabian Delph during the Emirates FA Cup, fourth round match at Selhurst Park, London. (Photo by Daniel Hambury/PA Images via Getty Images)
Crystal Palace’s Chung-Yong Lee reacts to a challenge from Manchester City’s Fabian Delph during the Emirates FA Cup, fourth round match at Selhurst Park, London. (Photo by Daniel Hambury/PA Images via Getty Images) /

While Delph was conventionally more of a box-to-box player with a focus on attack during his time at Villa, he has the tenacity and bite to, in theory, perform decently at defensive midfield. He lacks the ideal size for the position, being 1.74 meters or 5 foot 8 inches, but makes up for that sleight in raw motor.

According to sources, Fabian Delph not only has all of the attributes needed to play defensive mid for City, he is perhaps a great replacement for the hole in the squad left by the injury to Ilkay Gundogan.

Next: Man City injury report: Who is fit for Swansea?

Whether or not Delph is an excellent option for City or not remains to be seen, but he has impressed when healthy. As far as help in the back of midfield goes, he may be our only hope until the summer.