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Manchester City did indeed fail in an attempt to sign Leeds midfielder Fabian Delph.

In a prime example of “he who hesitates is lost”, Mark Hughes had an offer for Delph accepted but then asked for a week to think about the offer!

Ken Bates, went back to Aston Villa with news of the City offer. Villa kept their nerve, matched the bid and the deal was sealed.

Doubtless the plethora of talent bought into Manchester City over the summer means that few City fans will notice the loss of what might have been. Delph would have warmed the bench for much of the time.

However, for Leeds fans they will at least get to watch what Delph regularly on Sky and can watch might have been as he teams up with another Leeds Utd youth export, James Milner.

Ken Bates commented on the Man City hesitation on www.leedsunited.com:
“We had accepted an offer from Manchester City which they had to go back with to the owner in the Gulf.

“Then apparently they needed a week to think about it which surprised us, considering the size of the deal.

“The problem was that, with a week, they might have come back and said ‘no’ and that wouldn’t have been fair to Delph, wouldn’t have been fair to Aston Villa, and would have eaten into our season.

“We went back to Villa, and it’s a good decision for Leeds and the player.”

We wish Fabian all the best in a Villa shirt – until we get back into the Premier League, of course!

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