Liam Delap had a ‘gut feeling’ that he should join Stoke City on loan, despite the Manchester City striker having plenty of other clubs interested in his services. Delap, 19, has sealed a season-long loan to Stoke, where his dad Rory is a club hero and one of the current first team coaches. Delap Jr grew up around the Bet365 Stadium when his dad played for the Potters, and says that familiarity was part of his reasons for joining the Potters. Outlining his aims for the season, Delap said that he decided to trust his gut when picking Stoke over his other options, and is eager to get started and score some goals in his first loan away from City.
Liam Delap said: “It’s a brilliant feeling, I’ve known and been around this club for a long time. To finally get this deal over the line, I’m buzzing and can’t wait to get started. I felt in my gut, I’ve always gone with my gut and you can’t really go against that. I’ve chosen Stoke with my gut. I really liked [the manager, Martin O’Neill’s] ideas for me as a footballer to improve. He’s a good man so I really liked what he had to say. It’s important being a young player, at my age, improvement is one of the most important things.”
While father Rory will be one of Liam’s new coaches, the striker says there was no pressure to pick Stoke from his dad.
Liam Delap said: “No, he just left it down to me didn’t say too much. He said go with how I’m feeling. He left it down to me. He’s been through it, knows how it goes and helps me and gives me lots of advice in my career to help me do the best I can.”
Discussing his time at City so far, and his hopes for the season at Stoke, Delap said he wants to use the tips he’s learned from training with City’s world-class forwards to get on the scoresheet in the Championship.
Liam Delap said: “I chose to go to Man City after my GCSEs, my development has been excellent and how I’ve developed has been amazing. Being around the top strikers you can learn so much and implement it in your game. Men’s football is a different challenge, I think I’m ready to play and step up into men’s football. I can’t wait, I’ve been looking forward to being around the team and being around the squad every week, I’m so happy to start, being around it every week, training and being involved in the games will mature you as a player. I hope to bring goals, I’m powerful, fast, I’m lookng to be direct and put the ball into the back of the net. I set my own targets and keep them to myself, scoring goals and playing minutes.”
