BBC says Delph informed Lerner of Manchester City move on Thursday

From a grainy picture, to rampant speculation, to a bit better speculation, to this. It seems pretty evident that Fabian Delph is heading to Manchester City, and BBC reporter David Ornstein, who is as trustworthy as they come, has put one more nail in the coffin of our hope:

Delph personally informed Lerner of his decision on Thurs. Man City met release clause in full up front so free to have medical #mcfc #avfc

— David Ornstein (@bbcsport_david) July 17, 2015

There's no reason whatsoever to doubt Ornstein, so what's really interesting here is the information that the tweet contains. Apparently Delph did have the decency to get in touch with Aston Villa owner Randy Lerner about his decision before being seen walking in for a medical.

Secondarily, we know that we'll be getting the full £8 million of the release clause immediately. At least that means the money from Delph can be turned around and reinvested quickly.

Again, while there is no reason to doubt Ornstein, nothing is official until we see Delph signing a new contract. This could easily change again, but it's looking less and less likely to do so.