Manchester United believe they have key advantage in Liam Delap transfer race amid strong Liverpool links -Reports

Manchester United believe they have key advantage in Liam Delap transfer race amid strong Liverpool links -Reports

Manchester United believes they are in a strong position to win the race for Liam Delap’s signature, which is expected to be one of the summer transfer sagas.

During a challenging season for the Tractor Boys, who appear destined for relegation in the Premier League, the Ipswich Town striker has been extremely impressive.

The 22-year-old has scored 10 goals in 28 league games, which is a respectable total given that Ipswich has been in the relegation zone for the majority of the season.

The former England international began working as a coach at Manchester City’s academy in 2012 and rose through the ranks to become academy director in 2017. In 2023, he left to take a position as director of football at Southampton.

Delap joined City from Derby County in 2019 and worked under Wilcox in the academy before loan spells at Stoke, Preston and Hull

Clearly it is a heavyweight list of clubs credited with interest in Delap this summer but after enjoying being a regular starter with Ipswich it may well be the one that offers him the likeliest amount of game time which appeals to him.

Capped 12 times by England Under-21s, Delap will see a place in the senior squad at next year’s World Cup as a realistic goal.

However, his chances will be severely diminished if he moves to a club where he will be largely sitting on the bench for the 2025/26 season

Ipswich chairman Mark Ashton has been coy on the nature of Delap’s release clause, suggesting the club are in a very good position with his deal.

‘What I would say is that what’s been reported is never quite fact,’ Ashton told the East Anglian Daily Times. ‘It would be remiss of me to speak about any individual player, you know I am going to say that

‘What I can say is that in January there was interest in a number of our players from a number of Premier League clubs. But ownership were great, it was “you don’t have to sell”.

‘So look, we’re not an easy club to buy from, because we have such strong ownership. Obviously there is always a natural point in time when a player has to move. That’s the cycle of life, it’s the cycle of football. But we are very, very, very well protected with all of that.’