Bates: Delph recovery is the priority

Chairman Ken Bates insists the implications of Fabian Delph's injury on the money owed to Leeds in transfer fees is "of secondary importance". Delph progressed through the Thorp Arch academy into the first team as a teenager at Leeds before being sold to Aston Villa last summer for a fee that could rise up to a reported £8million in add-ons.The 18-year-old has been ruled out for eight months after rupturing his cruciate knee ligament in training and further money due to Leeds - and Bradford, who Delph left aged 12 - based on his first-team appearances at Villa has now been put on hold.But Bates said: "Nobody wants to see a player seriously injured and we wish him luck."We have received a proportion of the guaranteed element of the fee with the rest being due in the future, an eighth goes to Bradford City, but that really is of secondary importance."This is when you find your character and he will pick himself up and dust himself down."

Source: Team_Talk