Liam Delap is said to have a release clause in his contract if Ipswich Town are relegated from the Premier League and Manchester United are among five clubs targeting the striker
Ipswich Town striker Liam Delap is at the centre of a transfer battle between five Premier League clubs – and Manchester United hold one advantage. Delap, 22, has become a hot property since signing for Ipswich in a deal worth up to £20million last summer.
The former Manchester City prospect penned a five-year deal but could leave Portman Road after just one season. Ipswich are expected to be relegated from the Premier League, as they languish nine points from safety with nine games remaining.
Delap, who was tipped for an England call-up last month, is unlikely to want to play in the Championship next season, so a move away is on the cards. The son of ex-Stoke City midfielder Rory, Delap has acquitted himself well by scoring 10 league goals.
According to the Mail, United have held internal discussions about triggering his £40m release clause which will become active if Ipswich go down. But they’ll face competition from rivals Chelsea, Liverpool, Newcastle and City, the latter of whom have a buy-back clause.
Delap would be a cheaper alternative to United’s other striker targets which include Sporting Lisbon’s Viktor Gyokeres, Eintracht Frankfurt’s Hugo Ekitike, RB Liepzig’s Benjamin Sesko and Napoli’s Victor Osimhen. But if other clubs trigger Delap’s release clause, the Red Devils would need to convince the 22-year-old that Old Trafford is the right move.
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United could therefore lean on technical director Jason Wilcox, who knows Delap from his time in charge of City’s academy. Wilcox was appointed by the Red Devils a year ago and has earned plaudits for his work behind the scenes.
Co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe is a fan, recently telling the Times: “Jason, for me, is a guy at the coal face. He ran the academy at Manchester City. Txiki Begiristain, I know, thought Jason had the best eyes in the club.
“He’s a warm character, he’s got a sense of humour, he knows what he’s talking about, he’s got a really good relationship with Ruben [Amorim]. So, you know, if you compare that with last season when we had Erik [ten Hag] and John Murtough (United’s former football director), it’s chalk and cheese.”
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What could deter United’s interest is that they already have two young strikers at the club and a lack of experience in the forward line. Rasmus Hojlund (22) and Joshua Zirkzee (23) have both struggled under Amorim, who notably worked with Gyokeres in Lisbon.
The Red Devils were linked with signing a new striker in the January transfer window but Amorim defended their decision not to. “What I feel is that the club is taking its time,” the Portuguese explained.
“We know the urgency of the moment of the team; everybody here doesn’t want to make the same mistakes of the past. In the summer, we will see. But like I said, we are being really careful with transfers because we made some mistakes in the past.”
Amorim went on to say: “I think this is a moment that is hard to turn things around in just a few games. It’s going to be like that, really hard until the end of the season.
“We are taking that risk you talk about; we want a different thing in the team, profiles, in that area, it was my decision to do that [not sign anyone]. We are taking some risks, but this is the way we want to proceed.”
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