Fabian Delph

Fabian Delph arrived at City in July 2015, having established himself as an integral member of the Aston Villa side, where he had also taken on the captain's armband. He had also become part of Roy Hodgson's England squad, winning six caps in the season before his move to Etihad Stadium. Born in Bradford, Fabian began his senior career at Leeds United, making 50 appearances between 2006 and 2009 and managing to impress in what was a difficult time for the Elland Road club. In 2009 he was voted the Leeds United Young Player of the Year and Leeds United Players' Player of the Year. He was also named in the PFA League One Team of the Year and won the Football League Player of the Year award before moving to Villa in time for the start of the 2009-10 season. Still only 19 when he moved to Villa Park, Fabian found it hard to nail down a regular starting role but was starting to make progress when a cruciate knee ligament injury in April 2010 ruled him out for 10 months. He briefly returned to Leeds early in 2012, but, frustratingly, his loan spell was cut short by an ankle injury that ended his season early. He truly established himself at Villa in 2012-13, and the following season saw him voted as the club's Player of the Season. A first full England cap arrived in September 2014 against Norway, and another good season in a struggling Villa side was rewarded with the captaincy of the club from new manager Tim Sherwood. City added him to the ranks in time for 2015-16, but a hamstring injury suffered in the opening seconds of an England appearance in September side-lined Fabian for two months. He bounced back to contend for a place in Manuel Pellegrini's line-up, and bagged his first goal for the Blues in a 3-1 win over Southampton in September 2015. Injuries took their toll on the midfielder's 2016/17 campaign, but Delph was excellent in 2017/18, filling in at left-back for the injured Benjamin Mendy and winning a place in England's World Cup squad.