Delph can fly home for child’s birth
Fabian Delph is prepared to pull out of World Cup matches to attend the birth of his third child.
With his wife Natalie due to go into labour soon, the England midfielder said he had already discussed the matter with manager Gareth Southgate and would return home, if necessary, even if he was selected in the starting XI for a match.
“I don’t think it will affect me mentally. It will affect me, obviously, because I’ll have to get back to England and then come back again,” Delph said. “That’s obviously not ideal, but it’s part of life. I’m about to have my third child and I’m not going to miss it if I can help it. But I want to get back as fast as I can. We’ll have to see.”
Delph’s wife is due to give birth on June 30, two days after England play their final Group G game against Belgium in Kaliningrad and the 28-yearold said he had already made provisional travel plans with the Football Association and would hire a private jet if necessary.
“Gareth understands how important family is to me, and he’s the same as well. We’ve spoken about it a lot. He was away at an England camp and had to fly back to be at the birth of his child, getting there 10 minutes before, apparently. Hopefully I can do the same,” Delph said.
“I’ve spoken to the guys at the FA and asked them to get me a private plane with lots of champagne on it … No, the guys have worked well with me. They’re going to sort a plane for me to get back as fast as possible.”
Asked whether he was resigned to the fact that he might miss matches, Delph said: “Yes, absolutely. We’ve got a fantastic squad, great players, and if I am selected to play and I have to make my way back to see my family, there are players more than capable of doing the job I can do, if not a lot better. I’m comfortable with that decision.”
Delph, who started his career at Aston Villa before moving to Leeds United, is not expected to be in the England team for tomorrow’s opening fixture against Tunisia in Volgograd but warned against the dangers posed by the North Africans – whom he even likened to his club side, Manchester City, in their desire to play positive football.
“They’re a good team. They take risks, they like to play football. I want to say similar to how Manchester City play.
“They bring their centre-backs all the way, the full-backs play wide and they try to play out from the back. They do give the ball away sometimes, but they stick to what they know and what they are working on and they try to play football.
“We won’t be able to roll them over. I likened them to Manchester City in terms of how they like to try and play football, moving the ball around fast. They’re an in-form team. They are very confident, very comfortable on the ball.”
Delph, who has only 14 caps despite making his England senior debut in 2014, is brimming with confidence after his Premier League title-winning campaign at City. It came in a season which started with him possibly not being in Pep Guardiola’s plans and linked to a move to Stoke City.
“From a very young age, I’ve been guided in a way where hard work beats talent. It’s the way I’ve always been, the way I’ll continue to be,” Delph said.
“Pep has seen that in me. There are obviously more talented players than me at Manchester City, but my work ethic is probably better than theirs, maybe. Pep likes that and he’s been great with me.”