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Fabian Delph: the latest addition to Marco Silva’s Everton

Centurions and Formidables star Fabian Delph secured his move to Everton last week, completing an £8m deal to Goodison Park but what does his move mean for Everton and what can he offer on Merseyside?

Delph was very much a fan favourite in Manchester after playing a pivotal role in the Centurions campaign, yet he suddenly became public enemy number one in Pep Guardiola’s side last year and featured less and highlighting perhaps it was time to move on. Marco Silva’s rebuild of Everton proves to be a fine place where Delph’s utility and experience could come in handy and the Englishman is set for a new challenge at Goodison Park.

Delph joined City from Aston Villa for the same price as his present move. Then a central midfielder, he has been transformed into a solid left-back in the past two seasons under Pep Guardiola. Although Everton already have Lucas Digne, Delph’s experience and versatility will be appreciated as Marco Silva looks to build a side that looks to control the game and play attacking football from the off.

City fans will be able to testify that passing and keeping the ball is one of Delph’s main strengths, and a passing accuracy of 91.3% and an average of 0.7 dribbles per game in the league last season backs this up – despite a season which many fans will consider a season of dropped form.

If we go back to the season before that, City will remember the game away to Chelsea, in which Fabian Delph put in the performance of a lifetime to replace Benjamin Mendy at left-back. It was the first time we had seen him deployed in the role against quality opposition and we were convinced that he could more than suffice in Mendy’s absence.

Delph went on to contribute a further two assists and a sumptuous curling goal against Crystal Palace that season. However, what was more important was his tackle success rate of 74%, his 150 recoveries and near 50 tackles. To put that into content, Virgil Van Dijk managed 38 tackles and 193 recoveries in the season which has made him a Ballon d’Or top three candidate.

Another trait of Delph is his willingness to shoot from range, as well as his ability to play long balls in behind. While Lucas Digne loves to get up the pitch and cross the ball, Delph prefers to pull strings from deeper in his own half, so as to avoid getting caught out of position. This also reflects Delph’s prophylactic approach to being a full back in an era of Trent Alexander-Arnolds and Benjamin Mendy, something which Everton could use when they need to sit back and defend against superior opposition.

However, in recent months, Delph’s weaknesses have been laid bare by the younger generation of wingers. Delph’s inability to cover the back post for crosses from the right has cost City several goals, including ones against Lyon, Leicester City and the noisy Manchester neighbors the season just past. He is unable to correctly assess the flight of the ball and often gets drawn to the centre of the box, leaving his man at the far post resulting in conceding numerous goals.

Another downside to his defending game was seen against Swansea City in their FA Cup match last season. Delph likes to get close to his opponents, especially when they have their back to him to receive the ball. This leaves him vulnerable to being ‘turned inside out’, much like Harry Maguire, using just a well-directed first touch. In his pursuit to set things right, Delph often lunges in awkwardly which a skillful winger can easily exploit to generate contact and win a penalty in the process.

If you can look past those two defending flaws in his game, Fabian Delph is definitely someone you want to keep in your dressing room, with his ‘just the basics’ rant on Manchester City’s ‘All or Nothing’ documentary quite famous.

He wears his heart on his sleeve and doesn’t shy away from voicing his opinion, which could be very useful for a first XI as young as Everton’s. That type of character also translates into being vocal on the pitch and organising the defensive line, which is especially useful while playing the offside trap.

All in all, Everton have got themselves a steal in the present market by signing Delph for just £8m pounds. Defensively solid, hard-working and a leader of men, Fabian Delph will be a huge asset to this present Everton side.

Ayush Verma

20. Student at Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore. Manchester City correspondent for 90MAAT

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