OPINION
West Ham would likely have to meet Manchester City’s asking price of £15million for Fabian Delph if they want his service for next season.
According to The Sun, City will demand £15million for the midfielder this summer, and there are supposedly a number of Premier League clubs already showing interest.
Football Insider claim that one of these sides is West Ham, and that Manuel Pellegrini has been a big admirer of the midfielder since working with him in 2015.
The £90,000-per week man (Source: Spotrac) still has a year left on his contract, which is due to end in June 2020 (Source: Transfermrkt), meaning the Hammers would have to shell out for the midfielder if they want to obtain his services for the upcoming campaign.
However, Delph is 29-years of age and hasn’t been featuring regularly for the Manchester club as of late, meaning he could quite possibly be short of match-fitness going into the new season should he make the switch to the London Stadium.
The England international has only made eleven appearances in the Premier League this season, and has only registered a single league assist in the process.
Although there is no doubting the midfielder’s ability, it seems like £15million is a steep amount to pay for a player who is nearing 30-years of age, and has been without consistent top flight football for a full season.
It seems like there is a huge likelihood of the Hammers being ripped off in this situation if they pay his price tag, and although Delph has the potential to be one of Pellegrini’s better signings this transfer window if the move happens, there is also the chance that he could make the switch and not live up to expectation.
The midfielder’s history of injury problems should also be looked into before paying such a fee for his services, considering Delph has missed a total of 61 games through injury for Manchester City since his arrival in 2015 (Source: Transfermrkt), which equates to almost two full seasons on the sidelines.
City will no doubt be looking to ship the 29-year old out of the club this window if possible, to prevent the club losing him on a free transfer next summer, which makes you think they are possibly trying to rid of the dead wood at the club.
