Manchester City appear to have signed Derby County teenage talent Liam Delap. 

The Citizens were reported to be in pursuit of the forward in June and the 16-year-old has now confirmed the move to the Premier League champions on his

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In the post, Delap said he was "buzzing" to have signed for the club and thanked everyone at Derby for their help during his time at Pride Park.

 

Delap has spent 10 years at Derby, who will be due compensation from City following the completion of the move.

It is believed that he will now join up with the City Elite Development Squad.

The forward attracted attention with his performances in the Rams' youth setup and for the England under-16s.

In January, he scored four goals and won the golden boot in the Mercedes Benz Agean Tournament in Turkey.

The 16-year-old made eight appearances and scored once for the Rams under-18s last season, helping them to win the Premier League North title.

The Verdict

Losing a young player to a big club is always frustrating, especially one that with the sort of potential Delap appears to have.

The England youth international had been with the club for 10 years and the Rams may feel that they would soon be seeing benefits from his development.

The club may have felt that as his father is ex-Derby player and current coach Rory Delap they had a good chance of keeping him despite the attention.

It is believed that the compensation they're set to receive for Delap could be around £1 million, which is likely to be below their valuation of the player.