Manchester United have placed Ipswich hotshot Liam Delap at the top of their striker wishlist ahead of the summer transfer window. Ruben Amorim will put his fingerprints firmly on the Red Devils’ squad over the course of the next few months, with United set for a bottom-half Premier League finish.
Amorim was backed with two signings in January; £25million left-back Patrick Dorgu and teenage centre-back Ayden Heaven. But more significant moves are expected this summer, with a new striker among the Portuguese boss’ priorities.
Former Manchester City prospect Delap is understood to be United’s No.1 target, with Ipswich on course to be relegated from the Premier League. Their demise will reportedly activate a £40m release clause in the 22-year-old’s contract which the Red Devils have held internal discussions about triggering.
United aren’t the only club in for Delap, though, with Arsenal and Chelsea both linked with his services as well as City. Should Amorim and Co. miss out, they have three alternatives.
The Mail report that Napoli striker Victor Osimhen is next on United’s list, having entered the final 18 months of his contract. Osimhen, 26, boasts vastly more experience than Delap and has scored 28 goals in 32 games on loan at Galatasaray this season after a high-profile fallout with Napoli chiefs.
Other potential targets include Sporting Lisbon’s Viktor Gyokeres and Hugo Ekitike of Eintracht Frankfurt. Swedish striker Gyokeres worked under Amorim before the manager’s move to Manchester and has scored an incredible 44 goals in 44 appearances for Sporting this term.
Ekitike, meanwhile, is on 19 goals for the season after joining Frankfurt permanently from Paris Saint-Germain last summer. Newcastle were heavily linked with him in 2022 and the France under-21 international is set to be in demand again.
But Delap appears to be the chosen one for United, having scored 12 Premier League goals for struggling Ipswich. Delap joined Kieran McKenna’s side for £20m last summer after multiple loan spells away from City.
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His old club, who are looking to sign a backup for Erling Haaland, reportedly have a buyback clause which Ipswich chairman Mark Ashton was recently quizzed about. “What I would say is that what’s been reported is never quite fact,” Ashton told the East Anglian Daily Times last month.
“It would be remiss of me to speak about any individual player, you know I’m going to say that. What I can say is that in January there were 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 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.”
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