Stoke City have won the race to sign Manchester City striker Liam Delap on loan for the season.
Delap, 19, is set for a season in the Championship at the bet365 Stadium, following in the footsteps of father, Rory, who made his name at Stoke in the Premier League and where he is now first-team coach.
Pep Guardiola said Delap would be sent out on loan this season after outgrowing academy football, where he won the Premier League 2 Golden Boot and Player of the Year in 2021 before injuries stalled his City progress last season. Now, he will get his first taste of regular senior football at Stoke, who have beaten off competition from second-tier rivals.
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Vincent Kompany at Burnley and West Brom's Steve Bruce had spoken about the possibility of signing Delap on loan this week, while plenty of other Premier League and Championship clubs have been interested in signing him.
City decided to let Delap leave on loan only, rather than sanctioning a permanent move, and there will be no option for the Potters to make the move permanent. He has a contract at City until 2026 and has made six senior appearances for the Blues, scoring once.
Guardiola said at the weekend: "We loaned Macca McAtee, Liam is in that process because we have Erling [Haaland] and Julian [Alvarez] and he needs minutes. The EDS process has gone, is done [for Delap]. He has to try and go there and play."
Delap will follow Taylor Harwood-Bellis, who impressed at Stoke last season on loan before joining Burnley for the season, with fellow academy teammates James McAtee, Tommy Doyle, Lewis Fiorini and Callum Doyle all also on loan in the Championship.
Stoke boss Michael O'Neill spoke in detail this week about their chances of signing Delap, who played in City's pre-season tour games, saying: "He's a young striker who has not yet been out on loan," said O'Neill. "He's got a very big reputation at international level under-age and he's affiliated with Manchester City, who are loaded with young players with big reputations.
"We had Taylor Harwood-Bellis here last year and we know the relationship exists there. But at this minute in time, the player in question was on the bench for the first team on Saturday. While we have obviously made it known that we have an interest there, the situation is not in our control.
"I think it's always down to two things with loan deals: the parent club predominantly and it's down to the player, wherever he wants to go. That's the same for any loan really.
"We have to sell ourselves as a club to the player and the parent club. I think we've done that well with the loans that we've had, particularly from the bigger Premier League clubs. It's good that we've done that and they see us as a good option for the young player to come to.
"Ultimately, from their perspective, the loan is about the player's development. From our perspective, the loan is about strengthening our team. That's the angle we have to take. We've done what we can do in the loan market in relation to pitching to clubs for various players.
"I think clubs know what we want, they know how we'll treat the player, I think they know that the player will be looked after and handled properly. Over the next two weeks we'll see that market speed up a bit more. Premier League clubs' benches get a little bit fuller as they bring more players in and suddenly those younger players, clubs can make decisions on them at that point in time."
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