Liam Delap was in the stands at the bet365 Stadium on Wednesday to see Stoke salvage a point against Middlesbrough thanks to a late equaliser from former Manchester City youngster D'Margio Wright-Phillips.
Delap, 19, was in Stoke ahead of a season-long loan move, with the Potters winning the race to sign the prolific youth-level striker ahead of a number of Championship and Premier League sides. He will now be looking to get regular games at a club who developed City teammate Taylor Harwood-Bellis last season before his switch to Burnley for this campaign.
There will be plenty of expectant eyes on Delap this year after his blistering form for City's youth teams over the last three years, and a frustrating campaign last year that was hampered by injuries. Now, he will link up with his father Rory, a Stoke hero, who is a first-team coach at the Potters.
ALSO READ: Stoke win race to sign Man City striker Liam Delap on loan
To find out what Delap, City and Stoke can expect to gain from the loan deal, we asked Pete Smith of the Stoke Sentinel why they won the race for Delap and how he will be expected to fit in:
Why did Stoke make Delap a target - and what helped them win the race?
First off, it’s pretty obvious why Stoke would make Delap a target. There won’t be many, maybe any, better players available to any Championship club this summer. If there was a chance Pep Guardiola was going to sanction any loan he wasn’t going to be short of offers.
But never mind Rory Delap being a hero and a coach, it’s taken months behind the scenes to get Stoke to the front of the queue. They haven’t convinced City with a financial package, it’s about offering game time, looking after the player and being the right place for his development.
It will have helped that Delap Jr clearly has a soft spot for Stoke – we have brilliant pictures in our archives of him kitted up to watch his dad – and that Andy Cousins, now Stoke’s head of recruitment, was the one who took him to City from Derby three years ago.
Stoke had Taylor Harwood-Bellis last season, why do you think City are trusting them with their best youngsters?
A quick look at the stats and Harwood-Bellis was in and out of the team under Vincent Kompany at Anderlecht in the first half of last season but played every minute under Michael O’Neill at Stoke in the second. Ironically, it’s now Kompany who’s getting the benefit of that experience at Burnley.
They will get to experience playing with pressure from fans’ demands for Stoke in the Championship but they won’t necessarily be chucked to the wolves.
Stoke have also handled Wright-Phillips gently, giving him exposure but not expecting too much too soon. They gave a chance to Demeaco Duhaney and Tyrese Campbell is hoping for a big season. It looks like the coaches and the club are trusted.
How do Stoke play these days? Will Delap be asked to be a target man or have they moved away from the old stereotype?
I think they moved away from the stereotype even when Tony Pulis was manager but it’s still sticking! It’s wing-backs and crosses into the box, normally low and targeted rather than high for a big lump.
O’Neill made this point recently: “Man City put a lot of crosses in the box and someone in the six-yard box to tap it in. What we have worked hard on with the strikers is the runs into the box
“It’s interesting and we’ve got to be careful. When we played West Bromwich Albion, for example, they had Andy Carroll in their team and they were very one dimensional. If you sign a player like that it’s difficult not to play like that. We don’t want to play like that, we want to play with energy and pace. We want to get down the sides of teams.
“We have to get more midfield players in the box. We saw a lot of balls going across the box last season and you’re asking questions why no one is there to finish it off, hence why we’re still looking at that area of the team as well.”
Can Delap expect to play regular games, or will he have to fight for his place?
Yes. O’Neill has emphasised the point that at this stage of the transfer window he’s bringing in players to improve the starting XI, not fill the squad.
There is competition and Delap, Gayle, Brown and Campbell is as strong an attacking department as Stoke have had in a long time. But with three-game weeks and a long season, they’ll all see plenty of action.
Rory Delap is a coach at Stoke - can that help Liam or be a distraction?
Good question but it seems like neither Rory, Liam, Stoke or City are too worried about it. Rory is a club legend for what he did on the pitch – he was an excellent midfielder as well as his throw-ins – and off the pitch, where he has done so much for charity in the Potteries. Any of his family would get a lot of love. If any of his family members are also brilliant footballers for Stoke then the whole clan can expect the Freedom of the city.
What we know about Rory is that he’s one of the nicest guys in football but he also has high demands. He won’t make any exceptions for his son but there’s nothing to suggest he’ll have to.
Delap or by any other name, this is an incredibly exciting, as well as romantic, signing for Stoke while they are in the Championship. We’ve seen first-hand at youth level how destructive he can be and everyone is crossing their fingers and legs that we’ll get to see it through this season.
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