Fabian Delph to Manchester City: Latest Transfer Details, Reaction and More

Manchester City announced the signing of Aston Villa midfielder Fabian Delph on Friday, as the England international completed his transfer to the Etihad on a five-year contract.

Manager Manuel Pelligrini added his thoughts on Delph:

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"Delph is an excellent player, and I am looking forward to working with him.

“He has made a huge impact in recent seasons at Aston Villa, and is now one of the brightest young midfielders in the Premier League.

“Fabian has tremendous skill and energy, and the fact that he has become a regular member of the England squad is further evidence of his progress over the past few seasons. At just 25 years old, he still has his best years ahead of him.”

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The club also used Vine to present its newest member:

The move to Manchester City comes as a bit of a surprise, as David Ornstein of BBC Sport noted Delph said just six days ago that he was returning to Aston Villa. His former club wished him success in the future following the move.

"The decision to stay initially was purely based on the emotion and feelings that I hold for the club," Delph said, according to Bryan Swanson of Sky Sports.  "Rather than looking at the football opportunity that had been placed in front of me."

Delph added more, per the club:

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“I'm really happy – this is a huge opportunity to come here and be able to play alongside some of the best players in the world. I'm really looking forward to it.

“Every time I’ve played against City I’ve been chasing shadows so it’s going to be fantastic to have players such as David Silva, Yaya Toure, Samir Nasri and Sergio Aguero on my side now,” he smiled.

“I want to watch them closely in training and during matches, pick things up from them and adapt parts of their game into mine.

“I spoke with Joe Hart when I was with him for England and he was always been telling me how the Club has come on and what City are trying to achieve - and Micah Richards told me that as far as he is concerned, this is the best club in the world and he had the time of his life here.

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Delph enjoyed an excellent 2014-15 season for Villa and made his debut for England in a friendly against Norway. His performances continued to improve throughout the campaign, and soon enough, rumours of a possible transfer started to emerge.

As shared by WhoScored, it's easy to see why:

Delph is the kind of midfielder who does all the little things right. He may not dazzle fans with world-class technical skills and he's not much of a scoring threat, but he's a solid passer with an excellent work ethic who isn't afraid to get his hands dirty out on the pitch.

Paul Sarahs of talkSPORT is a fan of this signing:

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Fabian Delph = good signing for City.

— Paul Sarahs (@PaulSarahs) July 10, 2015"

Delph has one additional quality fans of his new club will like―he counts as a homegrown talent, which is of the utmost importance in this day and age, with the Football Association always regulating how many players clubs can sign from abroad.

Not everyone's a fan of this move, however. Dream Team couldn't help but mock:

But Delph is a relatively cheap option who could start for most top Premier League clubs and will at the very least provide valuable depth. The fact he's a homegrown player is a bonus―he's a very good player and one every other top club could have used. This is a smart value signing, undoubtedly one of the better deals of the summer.