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Guardiola says Delap remains i...

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Guardiola says Delap remains in his plans due to player shortage


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Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola says Liam Delap will remain with the first-team squad for Sunday's Premier League meeting with Leicester City. 

Delap had a debut to remember on Thursday night, scoring both of City's goals in a 2-1 Carabao Cup win at home to Bournemouth.

The 17-year old is the son of former Republic of Ireland midfielder, Rory Delap.

Sergio Aguero will be absent for at least another month with a knee injury, while Guardiola is also without Ilkay Gundogan (COVID-19), Bernardo Silva and Oleksandr Zinchenko (muscle problem).

"The situation that we have right now is we have just 13 players available in the first team," Guardiola said after the win over Bournemouth.

"We need players from the academy, not just in training sessions.

"With the problems we have up-front, Liam [Delap] will stay with us.

"But we cannot forget, like the same way we spoke about Phil Foden in previous seasons, he’s just 17 years old. He has a lot of things to improve, steps need their own time."

Despite losing to Arsenal in midweek in the Carabao Cup, Leicester have been a team in form over the past couple of weeks.

Brendan Rodgers' side have won back-to-back Premier League games, scoring 7 goals in the process.

"It will be incredibly tough; we know that," Guardiola said of the Foxes test.

"It is always difficult, and it will be no exception. We play at home. I see the team really well in terms of happiness. The young players help us a lot, and we move forward."

Delap holds Irish citizenship through his father, but has played for England at U15, U16 and U17 level.

Guardiola has cautioned people not to expect too much too soon, "He is a different striker than we have in terms of physicality, but we see in training sessions how good a finisher he is.

"Now we are calm, still working, but we are delighted with his performance."


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