Wednesday 22 July 2015 06:00, UK
Shay Given believes former team-mate Fabian Delph made the right decision to leave Aston Villa for Manchester City.
Delph initially stated his commitment to Aston Villa early last week after it was reported he was close to leaving the club, but was officially announced as a Manchester City player on Friday.
Given, who recently left Villa after four seasons to join Stoke City on a free transfer, believes Delph now has a real opportunity to compete for the league title at his new club.
"I think Fabian’s a great player and he deserves a crack at a team that’s going to challenge for the Premier League and he will do that at Man City," Given, who also played spent two years at City, told Sky Sports News HQ.
"They’ve got a great set of players, I think he’s happy he made it (the decision) now.
"People will probably question why he said he wasn’t going and was going but it just shows that players are human beings at the end of the day and they can change their mind.
"I think in the end he’s made the right decision because it’s an opportunity to go and challenge for the Premier League title at Manchester City and opportunities don’t always come along in your career."
Talking about his old club Villa, Given said he has full faith in manager Tim Sherwood to bring in quality players after Delph's departure and with Christian Benteke set to join Liverpool.
"It’s a bit worrying if you are an Aston Villa fan yes because they had a lot of players that have left," Given said. "Knowing Tim Sherwood as I do I think he’ll have a master plan going on behind the scenes.
"I’m sure they’re trying to get some players in and working hard for new signings as well, they do need to strengthen.
"It’s such a big club, Aston Villa, and the fans will be biting their nails at home hoping they’ll get some big players in before the window closes."
Given was speaking at the opening of an American Golf National Academy in Cheshire.
