Liam Delap is highly-rated at Manchester City despite only making a handful of appearances, so the Sky Blues had no intention of selling him permanently when Southampton showed an interest.
Sam Lee of The Athletic said City ‘rejected a permanent move’ when Southampton tried to bring Delap to St Mary’s, but they are open to a season-long loan as he’s unlikely to get many first-team opportunities.
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Delap joined City from Derby County in 2019 and has gone on to score 10 goals with seven assists from 16 games for the U18s and 35 goals with nine assists from 36 games for the U23s, so he’s netted 45 times at youth level.
The 19-year-old may have hoped he’d get more first-team opportunities after Sergio Aguero left City on a free transfer, but he’s made only two appearances at senior level and isn’t being considered by Pep Guardiola this coming campaign.
Lee says the Premier League champions could loan Delap out to Burnley, so he could soon join Taylor Harwood-Bellis and CJ Egan-Riley at Turf Moor. They’re managed by Vincent Kompany too, so he’d be in good hands for a season.