Manchester City central midfielder Fabian Delph, who made a surprising u-turn and joined the sky Blues after initially rejecting their offer as Aston Villa captain, has backed himself to succeed at the Citizens.
The 25-year-old is set to miss out on the Premier League's opening fixture against West Brom in a fortnight after pulling up with a hamstring injury in their 4-1 defeat against La Liga giants Real Madrid on Friday - but the Englishman has stated he is content with the move, and the step up in quality too.
Improvement in quality and competition
STAT: When Fabian joined up with the England squad for their fixture against Slovenia last month, he was the ONLY player in the team not to be playing at a top six side at the time.
He has been under scrutiny and heavily criticised for making the switch to the blue half of Manchester - with comparisons being made to Scott Sinclair, Jack Rodwell and Adam Johnson - all three of which struggled for regular first-team football when they joined the Ethiad.
Delph eager to impress and silence critics
However though, something about this move suggests it will not be the same case this time. Not only is Delph talented, but he is relatively young and still has plenty of years ahead of him. The same cannot be said for the majority of the City midfield currently, most of which are 28 and above.
He asserted himself as one of the league's best central midfielders last term with plenty of eyecatching displays for Tim Sherwood's men, and it was only a matter of time before he made a move elsewhere in truth.
Delph said the move is a 'positive step' in his career, because it's a 'step forward and an opportunity to play with some of the best players in the world' - lifting his game in the process. He continued, stating that 'every player backs themselves', otherwise 'you're going to struggle.'