Update: |Why Manchester United’s £60m rule is affecting transfer plans amid Liam Delap interest News

Opting for potential rather than proven two years ago is a mistake Man United are still reeling from and they face a similar dilemma this summer.

Manchester United signed an attainable striker in their early twenties last year. That is where the comparisons end between Joshua Zirkzee and Liam Delap.

Ruben Amorim remarked two months ago that Zirkzee is “not a clear number nine”. Delap is. The 22-year-old has tallied a creditable 12 Premier League goals to keep Ipswich Town’s sinking ship just about afloat.

Ipswich will, eventually, sink. Almost as inevitable is that Delap will not be playing in the Championship next season.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe boasted that Jason Wilcox, the United technical director, has “the best eyes in football”. Wilcox will have not looked far to have settled on Delap as United’s prime striker target.

Wilcox was the City academy director between 2017-23 when the club’s City Football Academy became a cash-cow. Delap left permanently last year for £15million, rising to £20m.

Delap would be another recruit billed as potential when United need proven. The issue is there are few established number nines, never mind ones who are attainable, and United are unlikely to be able to afford them.

Senior figures at United cautioned during the 2023 pre-season tour that they had to get their striker signing right that summer. “If you don’t, then you can’t spend another £60m on one 12 months later,” the source said.

United got it wrong. They spent more than £60m on Rasmus Hojlund and he has got one goal in 26 games. Zirkzee, brought in to alleviate the burden on Hojlund a year later, has found his niche in a deeper role and scraped six goals in 46 appearances.

Delap has twice as many Premier League goals as Hojlund and Zirkzee combined. He has come through one of the country’s most esteemed academies, developed into a top-tier standard goalscorer and is a demonstrable upgrade on United’s two forwards.

Yet there would be the risk of United repeating their errors: opting for an up-and-coming goalscorer, a la Hojlund, and swayed by a release clause, as they were with Zirkzee. And the fact that he was Dutch.

It would be arguably insular of Wilcox, who raided City’s academy for a couple of recruits during his brief stint as Southampton’s director of football, to insist on Delap. Beyond the onerous task of leading the United line there is the added pressure of Delap being, in the words of United matchgoers, a “City reject”.

Amorim credited Wilcox with unearthing Ayden Heaven, so impressive at centre back in his four appearances before he was eased onto a stretcher at Leicester City. Few would have expected Heaven to start in United’s biggest game of the season when he was introduced on the Old Trafford pitch in early February yet he was faultless against Real Sociedad.

Heaven did not get on to get to grips with Delap when United beat Ipswich. Delap is a strapping presence and caused United grief in both of their tight contests. Noussair Mazraoui did not forget their altercation at Portman Road when he barged Delap to the turf three months later at Old Trafford.

Delap was a truculent nuisance in those fixtures, picking fights with Mazraoui and Manuel Ugarte. Delap was booked for a cynical foul on the latter in the 85th minute that fuelled some ardent celebrations from ten-man United as they held on for a 3-2 win. Delap also bickered with Hannibal Mejbri during a ‘mini derby’ at the CFA when the pair were 17-year-olds.

Back when United had a handful of scouts and research of signings was largely limited to their matchday performances, Sir Alex Ferguson regularly bought strikers who troubled him: Eric Cantona, Andy Cole, Teddy Sheringham, Dwight Yorke, Louis Saha and Wayne Rooney all caught the eye for their former clubs.

There is still merit in that. United will need a playmaker and a right-sided forward in the summer and Matheus Cunha, Eberechi Eze and Bryan Mbeumo should all be under serious consideration. All three have put United to the sword.

Sporting striker Viktor Gyokeres will doubtless be on the move but United know the cost of reuniting manager and player(s) from a weaker league. Football and financial factors could also put Gyokeres out of United’s reach if they are not in the Champions League next season.

Victor Osimhen, at 26, would be proven but pricey. Benjamin Sesko, the 21-year-old RB Leipzig frontman, rejected United in 2022 but his agent has since visited the club to keep the line of dialogue open.

Whoever they plump for, it is safe to assume the striker will not be Dutch.