Man Utd make Liam Delap No1 transfer target but £40m deal for Ipswich striker will boost rivals Man City’s coffers
MANCHESTER UNITED have made Ipswich Town’s Liam Delap their number one target for the summer transfer window.
The Red Devils have identified Delap, 22, as their preferred option up top ahead of Viktor Gyokeres, Benjamin Sesko and Victor Osimhen.
Delap has emerged as a favourite amongst the hierarchy at Old Trafford as manager Ruben Amorim prepares to be backed financially in the summer.
Delap, who has scored 12 goals in 30 Premier League goals this season, is thought to be available for £40m if Ipswich are relegated at the end of the season – an outcome that looks highly likely.
The striker joined The Tractor Boys in the summer from United’s neighbours Manchester City in a £20m deal.
And Pep Guardiola‘s side are understood to have a £40m buy-back clause in his contract, but are unlikely to activate it given the new nine-and-a-half-year contract they handed Erling Haaland this season.
However, City still stand to benefit from any sale of Delap, with Man Utd potentially about to line the pockets of their local rivals.
That’s because the Cityzens hold a 20 per cent sell-on clause, meaning they will receive 20 per cent of any profit made from a Delap sale.
It won’t be simple for United to get their man though, with Chelsea amongst a number of other top sides interested in the Ipswich bagsman.
Delap, who is the son of former Stoke City star and long-throw expert Rory Delap, would also have to duke it out with both Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee for a starting spot at the Theatre of Dreams.
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However the pair have both struggled for goals this season.
Hojlund has scored just one goal in his last 24 games in all competitions, while Zirkzee only has a marginally better record with two goals in his last 22 appearances for United.
United had been strongly linked with a move for Viktor Gyokeres, 26, who played under current boss Ruben Amorim at Sporting Lisbon.
But the Swede is likely to cost significantly more than Delap and is expected to be courted by Arsenal over the summer too.