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Man City told to ‘take a big risk’ with 19 y/o drawing comparisons with Chelsea striker

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Manchester City striker Liam Delap has attracted interest from Southampton this summer but won’t be granted a permanent departure as he’s rated highly at the Etihad Stadium. City would prefer a loan move for the 19-year-old as they believe in his potential and Alan Hutton says he could thrive at a lowly Premier League club.

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He told Football Insider: “I think ideally it would be a Premier League club. I know that would be a risk for a lot of the teams. He hasn’t played a lot in the Premier League and it’s the toughest league in the world. It’s likely going to be a bottom-half team, so you’re taking quite a big risk. I think that’s probably what he needs for his development to go to that sort of level.”

Hutton may think Delap stands a better chance of getting first-team football if he joins a struggling outfit, but Pep Guardiola will surely prefer Delap at a club that create plenty of chances for him to score. The England U19 international has outgrown youth football with 35 goals from 36 games for the U23s, so he can be prolific with the right supply.

That being said, Delap is still a raw talent, so Hutton conceded that Premier League clubs might not want to gamble their safety on him. Southampton believe he has the potential, however, and Hutton mentioned how the Saints’ decision to gamble on Armando Broja last season led to his stock rising this summer.

He believes the same could happen for Delap, adding: “You look at Broja going to Southampton from Chelsea, look how well he did. There’s teams fighting for his signature after what he did at Southampton. There’s possibilities there and I think Delap has that kind of mould at this moment in time.”

In other news, Man City told to loan out ‘top young player’ as he ‘might improve’

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