Manager Keith Hill has praised Ryan Delaney’s character and willingness to learn after securing the highly rated Irishman’s signature on a two-and-a-half deal from Burton Albion.
After a hugely successful 11 months on loan at Cork City from the Brewers, the towering defender had a number of clubs interested in his services but chose to come to Rochdale due to Hill’s success with developing players.
The Gaffer is looking forward to working with the 21-year-old.
“Ryan wants to learn, he wants to improve, he wants to listen and he wants to ask,” said Hill.
“He’s not the end product but we’re trying to make him the end product and we feel as though we’ve got a player who has got a great character and a real ambition to improve in the game.
“We needed to jump the queue because if he started playing over here in the same manner that he has been playing in Ireland, I don’t think we would have got anywhere near him. We’ve got near him, we’ve signed him and he’s all in. He’s the type of character that I want to work with and the type of player that I know will improve under us.
“As a football club, we’ve got to do good business and we feel as though this good business for the long-term but he will also be involved in the short-term.
“It’s important that we don’t expect too much from him [straight away] but he has signed for the right here, right now, as well as the season after this and the season after that.”