Former Aston Villa manager Tim Sherwood has now opened up on the departure of Fabian Delph from the club.

Sherwood has revealed that the former Aston Villa midfielder had a nominal release clause in his contract, which allowed Manchester City to sign the player for just £8 million.

He added that Delph was really keen on continuing at the West Midlands club, but they were not able to provide him with assurances in terms of incomings. The midfielder wanted to gauge the ambition of Aston Villa in the transfer market before deciding on his move, but Sherwood could not provide him with ample information on potential signings, which led to his departure.

"Then we lost Fabian Delph who genuinely wanted to stay, but he had something stupid, a cup of tea, £8m buyout clause to go to Man City. Even though City spoke to him he was still coming to me saying 'I really want to stay boss, but who are we going to sign?' And I said 'I don't know,'" Sherwood said via TBR Football.

At the time, Aston Villa were really struggling and Delph had the ambition to compete at the highest level. Therefore, the move to Manchester City was justified. That said, Aston Villa have all the right to feel disappointed to lose a player of his quality for that kind of money.

The midfielder finished third in the league table with Manchester City in his first season with the club and ended up as a Premier League champion in his second season with them. His decision to join Manchester City certainly paid off.

Aston Villa were struggling in the Championship at the time and a player of his quality needed to move on and join a club that is capable of competing at the highest level. As for Manchester City, Delph was a bargain at £8 million.