Liam Delap has been backed to not only impress but become the ‘main man’ at Manchester United, by former Red Devils midfielder Luke Chadwick.
The Ipswich Town striker is expected to leave the Tractor Boys this summer after an impressive season in the top flight and with the club relegated back to the Championship.
The 22-year-old has scored 12 goals in the Premier League despite Ipswich struggling for results and has attracted attention from a string of clubs.
Delap also appears very affordable for most top flight clubs as his release clause is set at just £30m, making him a gamble that looks worth taking.
Chadwick, who won the Premier League with Manchester United in 2001, likes what he sees from Delap and thinks he could develop into a star player for the Red Devils.
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‘You only have to look at the amount of goals he’s scored in the Premier League,’ Chadwick told Suffolk News. ‘He seems to, particularly a few months in, have grown in arrogance – in a good way. You see him at Old Trafford and he’s shoving them all over the place and he’s getting stuck into it.
‘It feels like he’s at a time now where he can go and play at a top club. Unfortunately, Man United isn’t the top club at the moment, but I think bringing someone like that in would be brilliant for Man United. I think it would be a brilliant move for Delap as well.
‘Obviously, Ipswich fans aren’t going to want me to say that, but he’s probably going to move on. You feel he could go to one of the top four clubs, but I don’t know if he’d play consistently. I think he could go in at Man United and be the main man.’
The likes of Chelsea and Newcastle have also been linked with Delap, who will hope to make a move and earn himself a place in the England squad for next summer’s World Cup.
There is plenty of excitement around the young forward, but another former Manchester United midfielder urges some caution over his potential signing.
Paul Scholes is also a fan of Delap, but does not see him alone as the answer to Manchester United’s problems up front, saying the Red Devils would need more arrivals in attack and also a forward with more experience.
‘I like Liam Delap, but he still needs one or two more strikers with him who have got some experience,’ Scholes told TNT Sports. ‘We’ve been down this road with Rasmus Hojlund coming in as a young striker, and it hasn’t quite worked out so far.
‘Again, Delap could be another young striker going to a big club, and you just don’t know what to expect with the club not in a great place at the minute.
‘I always say that Manchester United should have three or four top strikers. Right now, they’ve got one who hasn’t really done it, so to sign Delap would be great, but he has to be part of two or three proper centre-forwards.’
Delap could play his last game for Ipswich on Sunday when they host West Ham on the final day of the Premier League season.
Speaking last month, manager Kieran McKenna remained hopeful that Delap would still be at Ipswich next season but backed him to be able to perform for the biggest clubs in the world.
‘As I’ve said before, I think there’s certainly a possibility that he’s an Ipswich player next year. I don’t think anything’s decided in anyone’s mind,’ said McKenna in April.
‘But can Liam play for the biggest clubs in the country, the biggest clubs in the world? He certainly can. I fully believe that.
‘He’s already shown the impact he can have at Premier League level in a team that have really been fighting for everything. I think he can have an outstanding impact at this level.’