Injuries hold him back
Chris Beesley : Fabian Delph played a pivotal role in Everton’s hard-fought victory over Manchester United and could be a key player over the rest of the season – if he stays fit – but his career at the Blues should not continue beyond his current contract. Nobody can doubt the Yorkshireman’s pedigree given that he has over a dozen years of Premier League experience and won the competition twice with Manchester City but at 33 later this year, he’s not what Everton need going forward.
On those, albeit all too rare, occasions that Delph has been able to pull on the royal blue jersey, his performances have been impressive enough as we saw against the Red Devils as he kept things simple but effective, always willing to show for the ball and move possession on to a team-mate. However, he’s just not been available enough to justify a bumper new deal at this advanced stage of his career.
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Over almost three seasons at Goodison Park, Delph’s longest run of consecutive matches is eight, something he’s not managed since his first campaign in 2019/20. This term he’s managed consecutive Premier League appearances just once when he had a three-game run in November. Transfermarkt calculates that he’s missed 422 days (14 months) through injury since signing for Everton.
Delph can help Everton retain their Premier League status and if he does so that might put him in a positive light with potential suitors but regardless of whether they win their relegation battle or not, younger, more durable players are now required on the rebuild of what has been an expensively-assembled but under-achieving squad.
Give us your thoughts in the comments section below.
Reduced terms could make sense
Adam Jones: Well let's get the obvious out of the way first, Fabian Delph has quite clearly not played enough football for Everton over the course of his time at the club so far. Whether that be through injuries or with others ahead of him in the pecking order, he's found himself on the periphery at best for the majority - and that's clearly not ideal.
But, his performance against Manchester United - and his earlier displays in the season against the likes of Wolves and Tottenham - have shown that he is still an important member of this squad when this type of system is used. While Jean-Philippe Gbamin is still out on loan (and his future is a real debate in itself) then he remains the club's only real out-and-out defensive midfielder.
He offers qualities that nobody else at the club really possesses. He's always looking for possession, his positioning when on or off the ball is always top quality, he's strong in the tackle, he's safe with short passes.
Finding players of his profile will often come at a financial premium in a transfer market and, let's be honest, Everton have a lot of other priorities elsewhere on the pitch to manage in terms of transfers. Perhaps someone coming through the ranks like Lewis Warrington could be the answer, but not quite yet.
Giving Delph a new deal would have to come with provisions, obviously. The money involved with the deal would have to be reduced, it can't really be a long-term option given his injury record - things like that.
But, if the midfielder were to agree to those reduced terms, then Everton could surely do a lot worse than even just having his character around the squad for an extended period of time - let alone his qualities on the pitch.
