Fabian Delph on elite City, Leeds affection, emerging Nico and complete Haaland | OneFootball

City v Leeds is a fixture that means an awful lot to Fabian Delph.

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The former all-action midfielder won six major trophies during a four-season spell with the Blues, including winning the Premier League twice.

But he came through the Academy at Leeds United – the team he supported as a young boy - before starting his senior career at Elland Road.

He has fond memories of his time with both clubs.

“You’ve gone from playing week-in and week-out with professional athletes and you go to Manchester City and you realise there’s levels to what we are doing here,” he told us.

“Everywhere I looked, it was elite players, elite management team, elite physios, everything was top of the top.

“It was an incredible time for me, my most successful as a professional footballer but not only that, I made some unbelievable connections and brothers for life and memories you can sit with every now and then and think ‘wow, these achievements we made as a team were out of this world’.

“Leeds United means everything to me as a club, the place, the people.

“It was just an amazing time for me. I was there from the age of 10, 11 all the way to 18, 19. It’s where I learnt everything I needed to learn to become a professional footballer.

“I learnt a lot about myself too and it was just an unbelievable education with real supportive people who were there to cater to your needs and help push you and guide you forward.

“I had an amazing time at Leeds United and fond memories for sure.”

The two sides face each other on Saturday at the Etihad and it’s a game he’s relishing.

He’s in South Korea as part of City’s ‘Matchday Live on Tour’ team as he joins fellow former professional Nedum Onuoha with presenter Natalie Pike out in the Far East to follow proceedings and give his thoughts to Blues following across our digital channels.

Ahead of the 15:00 (UK) kick-off, he offered his insights into where he sees both clubs right now.

“Some of the performances have been great signs for City. Some vintage City performances.

“But then there have been some performances that have been not as good as what you’d expect especially from a team that has dominated for so many years now.

“But sitting third in the league is not the end of the world and if there’s any team that can go on an unbeaten run, it’s Manchester City.

“The squad is more than capable of doing that. It is a long season. We are only in November going into December so it’s going to be an interesting period going into the New Year.

“But as far as I’m concerned, I am quite comfortable with where City are at this minute and they are only going to go from strength to strength.

“It’s definitely been a difficult start for Leeds. To be honest, I don’t think it’s going to get any easier. The Premier League is an extremely tough league and when you look at the fixtures they’ve got coming up it’s tough but then you have a huge club with a huge fanbase who are going to be behind the players.

“I think if the team can stay compact, be hard to beat, win the duels, win the individual battles then you’re giving yourself a chance this season.

“They have good centre-forwards in the team so there’s no reason why they can’t get some goals and help push the team forward but it’s going to be a long season I believe.”

Delph may have retired three years ago but he’s still very much across the exploits of Pep Guardiola’s men.

The 36-year-old, a midfielder by trade during his brilliant career, has been impressed with the emergence of Nico Gonzalez for the Blues of late.

Nico has been a pivotal figure in the City anchor role in the absence of Rodri.

The Spaniard was initially seen as a holding midfielder early in his career.

In fact, Barca B boss Garcia Pimienta called him ‘the heir to Busquets’ - but by 2023 then-Barcelona boss Xavi Hernandez saw him as a box-to-box player.

At Porto, the club he left to join City, Nico played in a double midfield pivot and further forward.

He’s shone back in the enforcer position for the Blues and Delph thinks there’s more to come from him.

“I’ve been really impressed with Nico,” he said.

“I feel like he’s growing into the role and growing into the position and I think the more games he plays there the more comfortable he’s going to get and the more familiar he’s going to be with the scenarios that can happen in that defensive midfield position.

“I feel he’s doing well and he’s only going to go from strength to strength.

“It’s always going to be a difficult one when you’re stepping into the shoes of someone who is arguably the best defensive midfield player on the planet in Rodri.

“Rodri is that good. If we can get Rodri back and we have two options in that position that’d be amazing.”

Back to this weekend and if it’s going to be an emotional afternoon for Delph watching two clubs who mean the world to him face off, the same could be said for Erling Haaland.

It’s the club he supported as a boy against the team his dad played for and, of course, where the superstar striker was born with the added incentive that one more goal would see him enter the record books as the fastest to a century as part of the illustrious and iconic Premier League 100 Club.

Delph has been watching Haaland for a while now – and to say he’s been impressed would be an understatement.

“Haaland has been absolutely incredible,” he continued.

“He’s been terrorising centre-backs for a number of years now and I have watched his progression and I’ve never seen anything like it.

“He’s an absolute complete striker. He can do everything.

“But what I’ve been most impressed about him this season is he’s taken the responsibility on himself to drag the team through games himself when they’ve not been going through good spells.

“He’s always been present. He’s always been there. He’s never shied away. And he’s just an out-and-out leader. I’ve been super impressed with him.

“Any time I see him step onto a pitch, it’s never in doubt. I’m always thinking how many will he score today not will he score today.

“As long as we keep him fit and healthy, he’s going to go on and score goal after goal after goal and break record after record after record. No doubt.”

City v Leeds app coverage

Our official Man City app allows you to follow all of the action in one place.

Minute-by-minute text updates will begin in our Matchday Centre two hours before kick-off, while our Matchday Live show will begin at around 13:45 (UK).

Shaun Goater will join Cel Spellman, with Natalie Pike, Fabian Delph and Nedum Onouha tuning in from Korea, as the former players offer their expert insight before, during and after the action.

During the game you can also listen to live audio commentary from Alistair Mann and Nicky Weaver, while our text commentary continues.

Make sure to have push notifications turned on, so you can be alerted to key moments in the action, including goals, red cards and the team news.

A quick-hit 2-minute highlights package will be available from 19:00 (UK) while you can sign-in to watch a free 8-minute edit from midnight.

Meanwhile on CITY+, from midnight there’ll be our popular full-match replay as well as our new extended highlights reel showing the best 20 minutes of action from the game.

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