DELANEY: 'I KNEW AFTER THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE CLASH THAT SEVILLA WOULD BE A GOOD MOVE FOR ME.'

Negotiations went on for longer than he had hoped, but he's happy that he's finally here: 'It’s tough of course. People around you read things as well as yourself. But in the end, both clubs reached an agreement after negotiating for quite a while, and it’s a good agreement for all three parties involved. I’m very happy to be sitting here. A stressful day, but at the end of the day, that’s football and it’s worth it.'

He also admitted to having watched his new team play: 'Yes, I’ve watched both games. I can’t wait to get to know my teammates and I have high hopes for this team because it’s a huge club. Everybody knows that and being part of that makes me very happy.' He has also been in contact with Lopetegui: 'Yes, I spoke to him before I came here. I had a short training session with the team as well today, and he was there so it was great to see him. Of course, it’s great to meet everyone at the club, I spoke briefly to the physios and everything looks good. I’m ready to get started.'

'I spoke to Lopetegui before coming here and it was good to see him yesterday. I’m ready to get started.'

He spoke of himself as a versatile midfielder: 'I’m a central midfielder. Some would probably see me as a holding midfielder, others more as a box-to-box. I can do both, and I think that I can contribute to the team in both positions. I can bring intensity, hard work and honesty. I wear my heart on my sleeve. I like to cover a lot of ground, and I think it’s one of the things that the club noticed in me too. It was a very tough game against Sevilla, and we played quite similarly in terms of the intensity.'

'I think I’m at my prime as a footballer now. I’m turning 30-years-old soon, and I feel in the form of my life so it was important for me to come to a club like Sevilla. When my agent spoke to me about the interest, I knew it was the right decision to come because Sevilla has great international pedigree, and being able to play in the Champions League too definitely is a plus. As a player, you always want to play on the highest level, so being able to do that here with a great club in an amazing cultural city feels great. The driver met me at the airport and he didn’t stop speaking to me about last season and the players they have here. As soon as I arrived here, I felt the excitement within the club. I’m here to win titles.'

'When my agent spoke to me about the interest, I knew it was the right decision to join Sevilla'

Being able to reunite with Augustinsson is a special feeling: 'It’s great. I think Ludwig said in an interview in Copenhagen that we would meet twice again, I don’t know how he knew, but somehow it ended up being true. He’s a great personality and we’re good friends. He’s a top professional.'

Just like Augustinsson, Delaney was also at the Sánchez-Pizjuán in 2015 : ‘It was back when Christian Poulsen was in Copenhagen, and he wanted to go back home to see the Sevilla fans again. Everywhere we went, people were taking pictures of him. Of course, he was a big character and leader for us as well. I’ve turned to him on several occasions, he took us around the city and we went to watch a game. It was great, two young guys being shown around the city by a legend.  

'Poulsen brought us to Sevilla with Copenhagen, he showed us the city and we went to watch a game together'

He also spoke about his reaction to the fans in that game: 'When I was here, it was before the stadium was refurbished. It had a classic football atmosphere with every seat taken. I can’t remember which game it was, but I just have memories of these guys sitting in front of us chanting and eating some salty seeds. I had never seen anything like that in Copenhagen.'

He leaves a passionate fanbase in Dortmund, but the fans here are just as passionate: ‘There’s cultural differences, but the love for the game is exactly the same. It’s been tough for the players because you lose what motivates you as a player: the fans. They are the sport’s backbone. I’m looking forward to being able to play in the stadium and hear the atmosphere. I’ve heard many great things, as I’ve said, there’s a great culture for football here. There is a big derby here. I’ve been lucky enough to play in derbies myself with Copenhagen against Brøndby IF. With Bremen, we played against Hamburg. Dortmund against Schalke, and now the derby here in Sevilla. I was thinking the other day actually, I’ve been very lucky to have played in some big derbies, and I can’t wait to be a part of it here.'

‘There’s cultural differences, but the love for the game is exactly the same.'

He also thinks that the clash against Sevilla in the Champions League attracted him to the club: ‘I had a good feeling about it. I thought to myself, I’ve played against them, and I could see myself fit in. Of course, playing against Sevilla doesn’t mean that I know everything about the club or the city or the culture, but I could see how they played and I liked it. It was a very tight and tough game, and we struggled. I still remember the last ten minutes, it could have gone either way. They scored late on in the second-leg, and they almost equalised the tie. All of that essentially just helped me decide that joining Sevilla would be a good move for me.’

To finish, he gave a message to Sevilla fans: ‘I’m honoured to be here. I’m just a normal guy from Denmark, a small country, and to be here is what dreams are made of. I see it as a great step in my career, coming to a club as big as this one. I’m humble and I’m ready to give it my all for this club and this city. You can expect a lot from me, and I’ll do my best to be the best player I can be for you.’