Delgado clearly has talent. We saw brief flashes of it in the two games he participated in, one of which was against Manchester United. However I didn't see enough that would make me pick him ahead of Pahars or Beattie. Still we never got the chance to see how much more he could do as injury has kept him sidelined ever since. His decision to return to Ecuador for treatment was also a mistake. Strachan is looking for players with commitment, resilience and the capability to give more than is asked for. Oh yes and the ability to speak English. By running, sorry hobbling, back to his home country, Agustin did not make the best of impressions on any of these fronts.
Ecuador are now getting worried that Delgado may not be fully fit for the World Cup. Ecuadorian national team physio Tony Ocampo said: "The pain has diminished in Tino's knee, it is more the external muscle in his thigh which bothers him. It hurts whenever he flexes the knee or works with weights over 20 kilos.
"Under 20 kilos does not bother him but he finds it difficult to go further. He can jog OK and we are working hard to try and strengthen the muscles with isometric exercises. The problem is that the muscles have not been used to working for so long. There is some atrophy which we have to overcome."We will build it up this week and the aim is for him to train normally next week and hopefully be fit to return to the squad for the game against Everton.
"Tino is very conscious of the fact he has to work hard to get back into the team to get some games before the World Cup but he feels he has been treated very well here and is desperate to play and to show what he can do."
Tino's desire to do well is admirable and he will have more than a few obstacles to overcome. Not least of which is that Strachan didn't sign him and gives the impression that both Delgado and Chala don't feature much in his plans. Hopefully Tino will prove his doubters wrong and score a load of goals in red and white next season.