The battle for Ipswich Town striker Liam Delap is heating up and despite claims that Manchester United are favourites, Chelsea believe they are in a very strong position to sign him.
The 22-year-old joined Ipswich from Manchester City last summer and has been the Tractor Boys’ star man in the Premier League, with 12 goals so far.
However, Delap’s performances don’t look like they’ll be enough for Ipswich to avoid relegation. The forward has a £30m release clause which becomes active if they go down, and multiple sides are poised to trigger it.
According to GiveMeSport, Chelsea are ‘quietly positioning themselves to move early for Delap’ – which presumably means they’ll bid in the ‘exceptional’ transfer window, which runs from Sunday 1 June to Tuesday 10 June.
The report states that Man Utd’s interest in Delap is ‘genuine’, but ‘they also have other names in the frame and that could give Chelsea a small window to show their own intent.’
It’s claimed that Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca is ‘on board’ with the idea of signing Delap, so he can reunite with former Man City teammate Cole Palmer at Stamford Bridge.
£30m is certainly a bargain for a player of Delap’s quality and potential, so it’s no surprise to see Chelsea keen on a deal.
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FIVE Prem clubs chasing Liam Delap
TEAMtalk transfer insider Fraser Fletcher first reported Chelsea’s interest in Delap in October last year.
But since then, more clubs have joined the race and we understand that it won’t simply be a battle between Chelsea and Man Utd.
Sources state that Liverpool, Everton, Brighton, and Newcastle are also keeping tabs on Delap’s situation, as all of them could be in a situation where they need to sign a striker this summer.
Man Utd have made signing a new striker a priority and Delap is very much on their radar. The Telegraph stated this week that he is their ‘No. 1 target.’
However, as we have consistently reported, Man Utd are in a tight PSR (Profitability and Sustainability Rules) situation and may need to sell players before they buy.
That may prevent Ruben Amorim‘s side from signing anyone in the ‘exceptional’ window and give Delap’s other suitors the upper hand in the race for Delap.
The youngster is believed to want guarantees he’ll be a regular starter before he’ll sign with a new club. Whether Chelsea promise him that remains to be seen, but there is no doubt that Maresca wants more competition for Nicolas Jackson up front.
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