Everton: £80,000 p/w man emerges as an unlikely solution to the midfield problem

Fabian Delph signed for Everton from Manchester City in 2019

Back in 2019, when Everton’s spending spree was a common theme every summer transfer window, the Toffees signed Fabian Delph for £8.5 million plus £1.5 million in add-ons. Then Everton boss Marco Silva ticked the box of experience through Delph’s signing after acquiring relatively young players like Moise Kean, Jean-Philippe Gbamin and Alex Iwobi in the same window.

Delph joined the Toffees on the back of momentous career achievement, winning two back to back Premier League titles with Manchester City. While the other signings were there to provide youthful exuberance, Delph was picked to offer experience, stability and the champion mentality that had been brewing in him thanks to his four year trophy laden spell at Etihad.

Delph’s leadership qualities and his versatility were supposed to propel the Toffees but instead what ensued were two and a half years abject unproductivity and countless times on the treatment table. Since joining the Toffees, Delph has played 33 games for the club meanwhile missing a whopping number of 47 games due to injuries.

His exclusion from match day squads became less and less noticeable with passing time, his injuries were just new chapters in the tragicomedy that was making it harder and harder for fans to justify such type of signing. But there appears to be a ray of fresh hope, a fresh fire that has reignited Delph’s Everton career.