In what has been a dramatic turnaround, Manchester City have completed the signing of Fabian Delph from Aston Villa.

The Villa captain was set to undergo a medical at City last Friday, after a bid of £8million was made, which met the midfielder's release clause. 

Original thoughts

However, Delph appeared to turn down the move shortly before the medical was due to take place.

He issued a statement on Saturday, which read: 'I'm aware there has been intense media speculation surrounding my future in the last 24 hours and I want to set the record straight.

'I'm not leaving. I'm staying at the football club and I can't wait for the start of the season and captaining this great football club.'

U-turn

But now he has gone back on his word, finalising the move after completing a medical on Friday afternoon. 

The move will come as a huge blow to Villa, who have already lost their captain in Delph and top scorer in Christian Benteke also on his way out. Liverpool are understood to have met the Belgian striker's release clause with an offer of £32.5million. 

Delph has become the second English midfielder to join Manchester City this week.. The Premier League runners-up signed Raheem Sterling from Liverpool for £49million just last Tuesday. 

What next for Villa?

It will be interesting to see how Tim Sherwood goes about replacing Delph, and if he does at all. The signing of Idrissa Gueye some weeks ago was thought to be a move which would signal the end of the midfielder's time in the Midlands, only for the aforementioned statement to be released.

Now that he is gone, it could give the Villa boss freedom to pick Gueye in his preferred position, instead of having to shoehorn him into a team around Delph.

The challenge ahead at City

Whether or not Delph will get into City's star-studded line up is a topic which has been of much debate. With player's like David Silva, Fernandinho, Yaya Toure and Fernando competing for places, spots are limited.

However, it is a challenge that he'll surely thrive upon, as he looks to make his mark on Manchester, winning some medals in the process.