Aston Villa should thank their lucky stars they have one of football’s loyal players

They say there is no such thing as loyalty in football and whilst a certain Frankie might not have made it to New York just quite yet, there is one player who is putting that statement to shame.

The man in question is Aston Villa midfielder Fabian Delph, who seems to be one of a dying breed in football – a player who is actually loyal to his club, and when the opportunity to jump off a sinking ship came, rejected it to fight for his side and extend his stay at the troubled club.

He claimed his teammates were ‘shocked’ he chose to stay at the club and quite frankly, unless Paul Lambert has some really juicy photos he is holding over the player’s head, so are we.

Villa have been dire to watch this season – a guaranteed last slot on Match of the Day and have even been forced to cancel their goal of the month competition for the pretty simple reason that they actually failed to have any contenders at all to pick from.

Why then would a player with obvious talent decide to turn down glances from the likes of Tottenham Hotspur to sign no less than a four year deal at a club who are not exactly on the up and could well be in a different division come the end of said deal in 2019.

There is the very real possibility that one of these days, Villa will actually get relegated – they have managed to avoid really getting pulled into a dogfight as of yet but you could be forgiven for thinking that the time will come when their luck runs out.

Delph however clearly does not see things like that – and let’s be honest, he could easily jump ship should Villa go down. There will be no shortage of suitors for him and the length of his new deal will ensure that Villa get a pretty decent price for him.  Win, win  for both parties it seems.

The 25 year old could have left on a free in the summer had he not signed a new deal – yet put pen to paper and claimed he would ‘walk through a brick wall’ for his teammates. That, in the modern day game is something to be cherished and applauded. It might not happen again!

Aston Villa fans. Will Delph be off if a big bid comes in for him despite the new deal? Let us know your thoughts below, become a guest blogger or tweet us @LaFootyettes.