Pep Guardiola admission signals new stage in Liam Delap's Man City development

Liam Delap is about to leave Manchester City on loan, Pep Guardiola confirmed this weekend - and it's the perfect time to see how he develops.

The Catalan boss told reporters: "We loaned Macca (McAtee), Liam is in that process because we have Erling and Julian and he needs minutes. The EDS process has gone, is done [for Delap]. He has to try and go there and play and the other ones. Luke Mbete, Rico, Josh will be with us, tomorrow [Sunday] will play with second team and train with us every day."

It was always going to be tough for the England U21 international to attain any minutes in the first-team this season. The £51 million capture of Erling Haaland from Borussia Dortmund and the arrival of Julian Alvarez means City are - finally - well-stocked in the striker department.

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Every supporter felt Delap's time to break through was last season. Striker-less and depleted by injuries, the 19-year-old was seen as the next player off the City Football Academy conveyor-belt. However, tinged with massive disappointment, Delap himself picked up an injury and rarely feature at all in the first-team.

There were murmurs of potential loan in January to attain more minutes, but again, his injury record was too much for a club to gamble on. He ended the season playing a bit-part role with the EDS, but as Guardiola says, that process is over for Delap and it's time for him to experience what senior football has to offer.

It is expected a team in the Championship will take him on-board and he'll join the likes of James McAtee, Tommy Doyle and Taylor Harwood-Bellis in their attempts to show Guardiola what they can offer.

Delap has an extremely tough task