Fabian Delph is NOT Scott Sinclair or Jack Rodwell - Time to Stop Making the Comparison

It has become highly fashionable on social media and with some writers to lampoon any English signing Manchester City makes and to claim that the player, especially if it is a young one will regress at Eastlands. With Fabian Delph poised to join Manchester City in the next 24 hours per multiple published media reports, it's time to stop comparing him with some previous English signings by the club.

Scott Sinclair whose name pops up often was never a capped England International and was a player that benefited from a system at Swansea. Wayne Routledge and Nathan Dyer both produced similar levels of play for the Swans in a wide role. Sinclair was bought in 2012 as a replacement for another underwhelming young English player Adam Johnson. And like Johnson he has never been consistent or developed additional skills besides pace and in Johnson's case some tricky moves on the ball.

Jack Rodwell was already an injury-prone player whose career at Everton had seemingly peaked a few seasons earlier when Manchester City bought him in 2012. His performances for Sunderland in the 2014-15 season demonstrated that the talented but erratic central midfielder was not of the required standard to play regularly for a top Premier League side. Rodwell was given every chance to perform at the Etihad but injuries and mistakes when he played ultimately led to his downfall.

If Delph plays as well as he did for Aston Villa after Tim Sherwood took over the side, he will feature often for the Blues. Additionally, Delph is now a regular England selection less than a year after earning his first full England cap. Keep in mind that last season, 36 year-old Frank Lampard started the final six matches of the season for City, all matches the team won. Delph brings a similar box-to-box presence as Lampard and a keen sense of positioning, something often lacking in the play of both Fernando and more recently Yaya Toure. Obviously Delph won't contribute goals like Lampard, but what midfielder on the planet in the last decade has scored like Lampard did?

Fabian Delph is not Jack Rodwell or Scott Sinclair. It's time to stop making that comparison.