Pep Guardiola might be about to give Man City youngster Liam Delap a tricky decision to make

Liam Delap has not been at Manchester City very long, but there is a sense of 'what if' when looking at his time so far at the Etihad Stadium.

As the Manchester Evening News reported last week, Delap is expected to go on City's pre-season tour of the US along with fellow academy talents James McAtee and Kayky. The trio are all highly rated by City with Pep Guardiola keen to give them a chance to impress, but for various reasons, all three have been linked with moves away from the Etihad in recent times.

In the case of Delap, it does feel like he might have missed a once-in-a-lifetime chance at the Blues through no fault of his own.

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The young striker was the talk of all City fans when he announced himself in September 2020, scoring a fine goal in a Carabao Cup encounter with Bournemouth on his senior debut. He made his Premier League debut a few days later in a 5-2 defeat to Leicester, offering optimism during a tricky period for City.

That season he broke the single-season scoring record in the Premier League 2, netting 24 goals in 20 games to propel the EDS to the title.

Following the departure of Sergio Aguero last summer and City's failure to sign a replacement, everything seemed perfectly set up for Delap to follow in Phil Foden's footsteps and become a regular member of the first team. However, a series of ankle injuries cost the 19-year-old his big chance, limiting him to just 26 first-team minutes across the 2021/22 campaign.

Speaking in February after Delap made two cameo appearances in a week, Guardiola was enthusiastic about the potential of the youngster.

"Liam last season grew up a lot