Liam Delap Scout Report: Why Man Utd want the Ipswich striker

For the third consecutive year, Manchester United are entering the summer transfer window with the club keen on signing a new striker.

According to recent reports, United have identified Liam Delap as their top target to lead the line at Old Trafford.

Date of Birth: 08/02/2003 (22)
Position: Striker
Strong Foot: Right
Height: 1.86m (6ft 1in)

Who is Liam Delap?

In 2019, Manchester City paid Derby County a fee of around £1 million to sign a 16-year-old Delap. The striker spent 5 years on the blue side of Manchester, which included two years on loan in the Championship. First, he went to Stoke City, where he only scored 3 goals in 23 appearances. It was a tough 5 months at the Britannia Stadium for Delap and his loan spell was therefore cut short. He was then sent on loan to Preston North End for the second half of the season, where he netted only once. The 2023/24 campaign was a far more positive one for the Delap. He went on loan to Hull City where he scored 8 goals and started to find his feet in professional football.

Embed from Getty Images

Following a successful season in the Championship, newly promoted Premier League side Ipswich Town agreed a deal with Man City worth £20m to secure Delap’s signature. Despite deciding to let him go, Delap is still rated extremely highly by those at Manchester City and that’s why they made sure to include a buy-back clause in the deal. However, given that they’ve got Erling Haaland and now also Omar Marmoush, who they signed for a significant fee in January, it looks unlikely that they will use that option.

Embed from Getty Images

Under the guidance of former United coach Kieran McKenna, Delap has taken his game to the next level and started to develop into the player he was tipped to become throughout his time spent in Man City’s academy. At the time of writing, Delap has scored 12 goals for Ipswich in the Premier League with still 6 games to go — an incredible feat considering it’s his first season in the Premier League and he’s playing in a team on the verge of relegation.

The Athletic report that over half of the Premier League are monitoring Delap’s situation. Should Ipswich be relegated, Delap will reportedly be available for £30 million. Given the fact Manchester United are going to be operating on a limited budget this summer, Delap represents a very good market opportunity.

Strengths

Delap is one of the most exciting young centre-forwards in Europe. In terms of what he does in possession, it’s hard to find any kind of glaring weakness in his game.

To start off, Delap’s hold-up play is outstanding. He’s very strong and is very good at holding defenders off while he waits for his teammates to offer passing options. It’s not often you see him shoved off the ball by a centre-back when holding the ball up. One thing he does very well with back to goal is being able to turn and carry forward quickly. Against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park for example, on two occasions in the first half, Delap received the ball with his back to goal and on both occasions, Maxence Lacroix was on his back trying to win the ball back, but Delap was able to turn away and carry forward with speed on both occasions. One thing that helps him while holding the ball up is that his first touch is exceptional, which doesn’t allow opposition players to win the ball back because of a loose touch.

Embed from Getty Images

Delap’s ball-carrying is extremely good and the data backs this up. In the Premier League this season, he’s averaged 2.23 progressive carries per 90, which is very impressive. He is also a very good dribbler and is brilliant at keeping the ball under pressure, both in central and wide areas. He isn’t a false 9, but he has shown that he can drop deep and this is where his carrying and dribbling really shine. In situations when he is carrying forward, he has the ability to play through balls to the players ahead of him. He also has a tendency to drift out to the left wing and is very good at dribbling past defenders, moving inside and getting shots off.

His movement in the box is another one of his big strengths. At the beginning of the season, when Ipswich hosted Aston Villa, Delap scored a brace. The first goal displayed outstanding movement. Ipswich were on the edge of Villa’s box when Jack Clarke received the ball in the left-half space. He then drove forward. When that happened, the entire Villa defensive line dropped to try and defend the goal. Delap however, held his run and was then able to receive the ball in space before shooting into the corner. Another example of his intelligent movement was in Ipswich’s 4-3 loss to Brentford away. The ball was on the left with Leif Davis who put a beautiful cross in.

Before the cross was played, Delap was positioned behind Ethan Pinnock. When Davis put the cross in however, Delap got in front of Pinnock very quickly and at the perfect moment before ticking it into the far corner with his left-foot — a clever finish but the movement was even better. These are just two examples, but throughout the season on a consistent basis, he has displayed intelligent movement and a real understanding of the tactical side of the game. He occupies and makes runs into the right spaces at the right times.

Embed from Getty Images

At the time of writing, Delap has scored 12 goals from 9,05xG (expected goals). This is a good return and shows that Delap is a good finisher. This season, he has shown the ability to score many different types of goals. He has scored goals from distance, scrappy goals in the box which many would describe as ‘typical no.9 finishes’ as well as powerful finishes inside the box. He has good ball-striking ability and is precise with his shooting as he very often finds the corner of the net. 4 of his 12 goals this season have been with his left-foot, which is his weak foot. He has shown the ability to create chances for himself which is a useful ability for any striker, but especially one who’s playing in a team which doesn’t create much.

Weaknesses

Delap at only 22, still obviously has areas for improvement. The first one is his ability in the air. He is 1.86m (6ft 1in) and he does actually have a fairly good vertical jump, but he struggles in the air. He hasn’t scored a header so far this season. He also wins around 45% of his aerial duels, but that statistic could be seen as a bit misleading. Very often when Ipswich go long, Delap doesn’t even really engage in the aerial duel. With his height and his vertical jump, he definitely has the tools to improve his game in the air, but he just doesn’t really look very comfortable engaging in aerial duels.

Out of possession, Delap also has room for improvement. When Ipswich press aggressively, he is quite good at closing players down and forcing them to go long. However, when Ipswich sit in a mid-block, he sometimes fails to close passing lanes, which allows the opposition to progress the ball up the pitch through central areas. For example, in Ipswich’s recent 1-1 draw vs Wolves at Portman Road, Wolves’ central centre-back Emmanuel Agbadou was able to consistently play forward passes to Wolves’ double pivot because Delap was not keeping the passing lanes closed.

As mentioned previously, Delap has a wonderful first touch. There is a small issue though that when he tries to accelerate and drive forward, sometimes his second touch is quite loose and this can lead to turnovers. In the Premier League this season, he has averaged 3.53 miscontols per 90 which is fairly poor.

Where would Delap fit in at Manchester United?

Should Manchester United bring Delap to Old Trafford, the former Manchester City academy player will likely become United’s first choice No.9. Joshua Zirkzee has shown glimpses of quality throughout the season, but should he have a long-term future at Manchester United under Ruben Amorim, it will almost certainly be as a no.10. As per The Athletic, Ruben Amorim wants a striker who makes repeated runs in behind and that simply is not Zirkzee’s game. Rasmus Højlund had a largely positive debut campaign at United, but his form this season has been awful, and he has regressed massively. It’s not just his lack of goals, but his general play has not been at the required level.

Embed from Getty Images

As mentioned already, Delap is a player comfortable dropping deep and carrying forward with pace, but is also brilliant with his movement in and around the box. He has a nearly complete skillset. With that in mind, should United sign Delap, they should also move to sign Brentford’s Bryan Mbeumo to play as the no.10 on the right side. He’s someone who could make runs in behind to receive the through balls Delap is very good at playing and exploit the space that Delap creates by dropping deep. Mbeumo would also be capable of creating chances for Delap. The Brentford forward would also massively improve United’s press and general out-of-possession structure. This would mean that Amad would be moved to the right-wing back position. Amad is also comfortable coming inside and playing in the half-space while Mbeumo is also comfortable holding the width out wide. All of that allows for more fluidity, which United desperately need.

Verdict

After signing Rasmus Højlund in 2023 and Joshua Zirkzee in 2024, there seems to be a lot of scepticism in the Manchester United fan base about signing yet another young, relatively unproven striker, with many fans arguing that the club should instead prioritise someone like Victor Osimhen or Viktor Gyökeres.