Championship interest in Manchester City's Liam Delap

But Stoke boss Michael O'Neill has denied his club will have any advantage in pursuing Delap junior's signature just because Rory is on the coaching staff at the Bet365 Stadium.

Striker Delap, 18, is a young player in demand after a superb Premier League 2 season with Man City's Under-23s.

He is understood to have a number of Championship clubs keen on adding him to their squad in the 2021/22 season.

O'Neill, speaking on BBC Radio Stoke, admitted they would be interested but said it will all come down to Man City's wishes on whether they do send him out on loan.

He said: “We obviously know about Liam’s situation with Rory being part of our coaching staff but what people have to remember is that it won’t be our decision, it will be his parent club’s decision and what they feel will be the right pathway for Liam.

“To think that we’re in any way advantaged because Rory is at the club won’t be the case.

"They will have a pathway for Liam which might mean they decide to keep him as part of their squad at this minute in time.

“He’s like a lot of young players who are around Premier League squads – particularly around bigger clubs – you have to be patient and they may or may not become available.

“If the opportunity came for us to try to do something of course we’d be interested in trying to do that, as we would be with a number of other young players at the top end of the game at Liverpool, Arsenal… all of these clubs.

“Not all of these young players are going to come and do exceptionally well in their first loan but certainly in this case we would be interested if the opportunity arose.”

Delap, previously with Derby, made a first-team breakthrough last season when he scored on his senior Man City debut in the Carabao Cup against Bournemouth.

He made three first-team outings for Pep Guardiola's side - before being named PL2 player of the season after firing Man City's Elite Development Squad to the title with a 24-goal haul.