Pep Guardiola called me a killer but I knew my future wasn't at Man City

Pep Guardiola doesn't give praise to young players often, wary of giving them a false sense that they have 'made it' at Manchester City.

So to call a young Liam Delap a 'killer' and declare him the future of the club was a statement that didn't go unnoticed. Ironically, though, his chances at City had been killed before Guardiola gave him his moniker.

As he stood on the verge of a first team breakthrough, injury scuppered his progress and by the time he returned City had signed Julian Alvarez with Erling Haaland on the way. They had moved on.

With that kind of competition, Delap was never going to get the chances he wanted.

Delap had blasted on to the scene with a debut goal against Bournemouth in the Carabao Cup at the Etihad in 2020/21, and his 24 goals for the under-23s that season alerted the rest of the world to his brutal power. There were typical striker goals, more finesse finishes, and plenty of spectacular goals in his collection as City swept to the Premier League 2 title with a team including Cole Palmer, James McAtee and Romeo Lavia.

Delap didn't just better that competition in the City squad, but he was named the Premier League 2 Player of the Year setting the record for most goals in a season. He started in City's FA Youth Cup final success too.

With a record like that, Guardiola earmarked Delap for a first team role the following season, especially when a move for Harry Kane didn't materialise in 2021.

“Liam Delap for me, for the club, is so important for the future,” Guardiola said when Delap was handed a new deal that summer. “At the end of last season, we said we had to extend the contract. He is going to train with us, if a striker comes or doesn’t come. He will train with us all season.

“It’s like Phil Foden, when he arrived with us. He trained with us and played with the second team. It is the best way to help with their development. The problem with academies is the distance between their competition and the Premier League. It is too big. And it’s really difficult to promote them from here."

And then injury struck.

By the time he was back, the senior chance had effectively gone: City were working on a deal for Erling Haaland and Delap couldn't stay fit.

But Guardiola could still picture a future for Delap if he wanted it. An FA Cup cameo prompted the infamous 'killer' nickname and Delap was a physical presence in training.

"Liam last season grew up a lot especially with [former under-23 coach] Enzo Maresca helping him to develop. He is a type of striker we don’t have, a killer, typical British striker. The only problem was injured and after injured and after injured, he struggled a lot but he has a special quality.

"One of the precious values you have to have is to be patient. But if you do it always will pay off and always you will get what you deserve. Nobody knows what is going to happen next season.

"These guys are 18, 19 years old," he continued on Delap's future at City. "One of the precious values you have to have is to be patient.

"But if you do it always will pay off and always you will get what you deserve. Nobody knows what is going to happen next season."

What happened was Haaland arrived, and Delap sought first team football at Stoke, where his dad Rory was not only a club legend but a first team coach. His 'gut' told him to defy his father and go to the Bet365 Stadium where he had grown up, but when a change in management saw Rory leave shortly after Liam arrived, his dream spell didn't work out.

Neither did a second loan in that 2022/23 season at Preston, but a move to Hull the following campaign saw Delap rediscover his shooting boots. And that form prompted Ipswich to spend up to £20m on signing Delap permanently, earning City a significant profit on the £1m they spent to sign him from Derby.

Now, Delap is doing exactly what Guardiola said he would. He is a battering ram in the Premier League and scoring regularly, already attracting interest further up the table - Chelsea have been linked having already spent around £100m on former City academy players in recent seasons.

City have struggled and their name has also been mentioned, especially as they have a buy-back clause that could save a significant amount on whatever Chelsea would pay. But Haaland has just signed a new deal until 2034, Omar Marmoush is set to arrive and for all Guardiola's praise of Delap he is maybe too physical and direct for the Catalan's liking.

Guardiola used his time with Delap to try and train him to do what Haaland has made look so easy - combine his strength with getting in the box for the easy goals. Delap stands out for the more spectacular, brutal strikes. He is raised at City, but he isn't a typical 'City' striker and never really was.

That isn't to say City still can't profit some more on Delap. A 20 per cent sell-on clause could earn them millions on any future transfer - say he is worth a conservative £40m, City would get a cool £8m of that.

But first, there is the small matter of Delap's Ipswich trying to upset the odds at Portman Road this weekend. If they are to take advantage of City's up-and-down form, Delap will be pivotal and he will fancy his chances against the Blues' patchwork defence. He relished the battle with Ruben Dias at the Etihad in August.

Maybe he was another one who got away, like former teammate Palmer. If it wasn't for that injury, who knows how his City career might have panned out.

However, Delap knew he needed to play and looked elsewhere for his minutes. It is a self-confident decision that has clearly paid off. So while City have hardly looked back with Haaland and Delap could still boost their transfer budget further, it's only fair to ask what could have been.

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