Sterling and Delph, to play or be benched

Something unusual is happening over at the Etihad Stadium. Manchester City is stockpiling their squad with "English players"!

Looks like the "homegrown" rule is hitting Manchester City hard.

After the departure of James Milner, Micard Richards, Frank Lampard and Scott Sinclair, only Joe Hart, Richard Wright and French left-back Gael Clichy (due to his formative years at Arsenal) meet the criteria.

So unless they sign more British footballer, they have to operate with a smaller squad.

And sign they did. First was Raheem Sterling followed by Fabian Delph.

But one has to ask, are the signings out of necessities or requirements, necessary for the club to be competitive or required by the law of the game?

Lets see how the duo measure up against the direct competitors for a place in the team.

Looking the table tallied by WhoScored.com, Yaya Toure is the sure shoo-in. With more goals scored, more tackles and interceptions per game, Fernandinho has the slight edge. Unless Manuel Pellegrini move away from his favoured 4-4-2 or 4-2-3-1 formation, Delph might have to spend some considerable time on the bench.

Raheem Sterling - Played: 34(1) / Goals: 7 / Assists: 7 / WhoScored.com ratings 7.27

David Silva - Played: 32 / Goals: 12 / Assists: 7 / WhoScored.com ratings 7.53

Samir Nasri - Played: 18(6) / Goals: 2 / Assists: 6 / WhoScored.com ratings 6.94

Sergio Aguero - Played: 30(3) / Goals: 26 / Assists: 8 / WhoScored.com ratings 7.67

Edin Dzeko - Played: 11(11) / Goals: 4 / Assists: 2 / WhoScored.com ratings  6.63

Wilfried Bony - (Swansea)Played: 16(4) / Goals: 9 / Assists: 2 / WhoScored.com ratings: 7.22

Wilfried Bony - (Man City)Played: 2(8) / Goals: 297 / Assist: 2 / WhoScored.com ratings: 6.88

Jesus Navas - Played: 23(12) / Goals: - / Assists: 8 / WhoScored.com ratings: 6.98

Stevan Jovetic - Played: 9(8) / Goals: 5 / Assists: 3 / WhoScored.com ratings: 6.87

David Silva and Sergio Augero, not only are they fans' favourites, their statistics make it very hard for Pellegrini to drop them.

Transfer rumours regarding Nasri, Dzeko and Jovetic should be music to Sterling's ears but if Man City manage to offload them, it will means they will have extra spots for some world class "foreign" players.

Assuming the situation remains the same, Sterling's should make it to the first team, partnering Silva, Augero and Navas in one of the fastest and mobile attacking quartet.

Will the duo follow in the footsteps of Milner and Sinclair? Only time will tell. My guess, looking purely at playing time, they will regret moving to the blue half of Manchester.