Tim Sherwood has hailed "leader" Fabian Delph after he snubbed a move big money move to Manchester City.
The Aston Villa manager spoke about how proud he was of his captain being dedicated to Villa - and says he is a vital part in what they want to achieve next season.
Delph led Villa out during last season's FA Cup final and was set to continue his remarkable 2015 with an £8million move to the Etihad.
But he pulled out of the deal at the last moment after discussions with City's bombed stars Micah Richards and Scott Sinclair.
Sherwood has big ambitions for Villa and he sees Delph as the man to front them.
He told Aston Villa's official website: "We are looking to build something here and we're looking to keep our best players.
"Fabian is certainly one of those. It's just an example of the measure of the guy really that he decided to stay - the loyalty he's shown to the fans, the football club and the chairman. And I'm delighted to have him here next season."
Delph will be missing out on the pre-season trip to Portugal due to his family commitments.
It was initially thought that he was missing the training camp to complete his move to City, but Sherwood has confirmed otherwise.
He added: "He stayed away from this trip because his wife is due their second child any moment. That's why he was always going to stay back.
"He had an opportunity to join Man City and he weighed up his options and decided to stay with us, which we're obviously all delighted about.
"Fabian is a leader. I could go as much as to say that if Fabian wasn't with us last season we wouldn't be in the Premier League now.
"He's someone I had the ear of. He was very instrumental in what I wanted to do. He knew exactly what I wanted from the team and he drove them on.
"It can't always come from the manager - the instructions - sometimes someone on the pitch needs to translate that information and Fabian certainly did that."
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