16. Fabian Delph
Position: Midfielder Date of Birth: 21st November 1989 Place of Birth: Bradford, England Caps: 0* Height: 174cm
Fabian Delph joined Leeds United in September 2001 when they picked him up from Bradford City’s Academy. After a string of impressive performances he was made captain of Leeds Reserve set-up, and it wasn’t long before he made his debut for the full team.
In the final game of the 2006-07 season Delph came of the bench against Derby County. He was awarded his first professional contract in January 2008 and again made two further substitute appearances in the 2007-08 season.
It was the 2008-09 season when the Bradford born midfielder really started to make a name for himself. On August 13th after impressing in pre-season, Fabian started for the first team in a 5-2 victory over Chester City in the League Cup. After gaining more first team football, Delph signed a four year contract with Leeds on September 5th.
The interest in Delph was starting to rise as his profile was building with Arsenal being linked with a £6,000,000 move for the then u21 England star. In January 2009 Leeds rejected two offers from Premier League clubs with then chairman Ken Bates stating: “We don’t deal in petty cash”.
After the 2008-09 season Delph picked up the Young player of the year award at the Football League awards. The awards didn’t end there either as he won the goal of the season for a strike against Brighton and he was named club player of the year. It was becoming apparent that it was only a matter of time before this talent was picked up by a Premier League side.
On 3rd August 2009, Aston Villa had confirmed they had agreed an undisclosed deal with the Yorkshire club. The following day Fabian Delph was confirmed an Aston Villa player after agreeing personal terms and passing his medical. He then went on to make his debut in a pre-season friendly at Villa Park when Villa beat Fiorentina 1-0.
Delph’s full Premier League debut come on the opening day of the 2009-10 season in which he picked up a booking and Villa lost 2-0 to Wigan. The midfielder then scored his first goal for the club in the FA Cup against Brighton and Hove Albion.
On 17th April 2010, Delph had to be stretchered away in training and it was later confirmed he had suffered a anterior cruciate ligament injury and it would rule him out for up to 8 months. Despite his injury problems Delph signed a new deal with Aston Villa, keeping him at the club until 2015.
Honours;
Football League 1 Young Player of the Year 08/09 (Leeds United
Football League 1 Goal of the Season 08/09 (Leeds United)
(*-as of 1st May 2011)
