Pep Guardiola called me a killer but I knew my future wasn't at Man City - now I can make them pay

Pep Guardiola doesn't give praise to young players often, wary of giving them a false sense that they have 'made it' at Manchester City.

So to call a young Liam Delap a 'killer' and declare him the future of the club was a statement that didn't go unnoticed. Ironically, though, his chances at City had been killed before Guardiola gave him his moniker.

As he stood on the verge of a first team breakthrough, injury scuppered his progress and by the time he returned City had signed Julian Alvarez with Erling Haaland on the way. They had moved on.

With that kind of competition, Delap was never going to get the chances he wanted.

Delap had blasted on to the scene with a debut goal against Bournemouth in the Carabao Cup at the Etihad in 2020/21, and his 24 goals for the under-23s that season alerted the rest of the world to his brutal power. There were typical striker goals, more finesse finishes, and plenty of spectacular goals in his collection as City swept to the Premier League 2 title with a team including Cole Palmer, James McAtee and Romeo Lavia.

Delap didn't just better that competition in the City squad, but he was named the Premier League 2 Player of the Year setting the record for most goals in a season. He started in City's FA Youth Cup final success too.

With a record like that, Guardiola earmarked Delap for a first team role the following season, especially when a move for Harry Kane didn't materialise in 2021.

“Liam Delap for me, for the club, is so important for the future,” Guardiola said when Delap was handed a new deal that summer. “At the end of last season, we said we had to extend the contract. He is going to train with us, if a striker comes or doesn’t come. He will train with us all season.

“It’s like