Update: Man City have to make £40m Liam Delap transfer call – it could get messy News

Manchester City will have to make a decision on Liam Delap in the summer transfer window whether they want to sign him or not

Liam Delap has certainly enjoyed a stellar year. Of the many former Manchester City stars living it up in the Premier League this season, perhaps only Morgan Rogers has had a better campaign as the bulldozer of a striker has lashed in 12 goals in his first season in the top flight.

It won’t be enough to save Ipswich from the drop, yet it should be enough to not only preserve Delap’s position in English football but improve it. Goalscorers are the most valuable commodity for top teams and there is no shortage of teams interested in the 22-year-old.

Chelsea, where Nicolas Jackson and Christopher Nkunku, have been keeping tabs on Delap for ages and he fits right into their ideal profile for recruiting. With coach Enzo Maresca having developed Delap in the City academy and a number of other figures also at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea are favourites to land Delap.

There’s also United though, who have spent close to £130m on centre-forwards in the last two years and still cannot buy a goal. Jason Wilcox was in charge of City’s academy when Delap was signed and may be hoping to use that existing relationship to tempt Delap with a return to Manchester.

Wherever he goes, no deal can happen without going through City first. The Blues have the option to buy their player back for £40m and also have a 20 per cent sell-on fee, so will need to be notified of any negotiations.

However impressive Delap has been, the chances of him making it at the Etihad are lower than when he left. Erling Haaland is still at the club and has signed a nine-and-a-half year contract extension, while the club have replaced Julian Alvarez with the £59m signing of Omar Marmoush.

It’s not out of this world that Delap returns to City, but it is highly unlikely. If there are other interested parties though – and ones with deep pockets – there is an argument for the Blues to buy Delap back anyway before selling him on.

That would again be highly unlikely and it is not part of City’s playbook to mess with the futures of players like that, but signing a player for one sum before selling him on for another in the same window would be an easy PSR win. If United and Chelsea are both prepared to invest in Delap, the Blues could push the price up by taking him off Ipswich’s hands first.

Whatever City decide, it looks like they will have to make some kind of decision this summer with Delap destined to be back playing in the Premier League next season with a new club.

—

Here at the Manchester Evening News, we’re dedicated to bringing you the best Manchester City coverage and analysis.

Make sure you don’t miss out on the latest City news by joining our free WhatsApp group. You can get all the breaking news and best analysis sent straight to your phone by clicking here to subscribe.

You can also subscribe to our free newsletter service. Click here to be sent all the day’s biggest stories.

And finally, if you’d rather listen to our expert analysis then make sure to check out our Talking City podcast. Our shows are available on all podcast platforms, including Spotify and Apple Podcasts, and you can also watch along on YouTube.