Liam Delap | In Manchester for talks (Athletic)

Ipswich fans seem unhappy it's that low as they paid £20m for him in the first place. Add in City's sell on fee and they'll make just £8m profit.

But I suppose they're slighly unlucky in him having a season that has top clubs interested and them still getting relegated. If they'd managed to stay up he'd have been worth a lot more.
 
sullydnl said:
Ipswich fans seem unhappy it's that low as they paid £20m for him in the first place. Add in City's sell on fee and they'll make just £8m profit.

But I suppose they're slighly unlucky in him having a season that has top clubs interested and them still getting relegated. If they'd managed to stay up he'd have been worth a lot more.
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That’s the whole crux of it really. If they’d stayed up in the first place, none of this happens.
 
sullydnl said:
Ipswich fans seem unhappy it's that low as they paid £20m for him in the first place. Add in City's sell on fee and they'll make just £8m profit.

But I suppose they're slighly unlucky in him having a season that has top clubs interested and them still getting relegated. If they'd managed to stay up he'd have been worth a lot more.
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Pretty sure his agent would have put that in his contract as he wants to be playing PL football.

Its a win win for all, its like getting a player on loan but making £8m profit out of it.
 
Work your magic Wilcox, be an absolute steal for 30 million.

Can offset the loss we take on Hojlund who would probably go for similar.
 
aeh1991 said:
When did we manage to sell our deadwood for that much? Can only think of McT as a good transfer in recent years.
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That’s under the high fees, high wages and aging strategy.

Someone at Delaps age and the fact he’s somewhat premier league proven. You’d have to give him a ridiculous contract to struggle to sell
 
As much as I don't mind Delap, can't help but ast my mind back to when we had an elite striker. One that they whole team could trust. No, Ronaldo does count.
 
Delap for me would be similar level to Hojlund. He may have had a better season this year but neither is the elite level striker United needs. Again, Gyökeres is THE striker for United.
 
There's a few questions our scouting/recruitment will need to answer here.

The first one is just the matter of fact of how much the proven strikers such as Gyokeres will cost. Is Delap on par with some of the up and coming strikers we've been rumored to have interest in such as Ekitike and another who's name is escaping me now, who should cost significantly more? If we do activate the relegation clause, will the money saved be used to bolster the positions behind the striker or whichever outdated numerical term we want to apply to those positions?

I'm probably in the minority here but I think Delap could be a huge coup for that price if we then spend on a high level signing to play the other "10" opposite Amad. Delap and Cunha or Xavi Simmons for example might do more to bolster our attack than throwing Gyokeres into a front three with Amad and the rest of the wide attackers we currently have on the books.
 
He's a fast and physical box striker who looks like he'll be a good PL striker for a long time, like an Ivan Toney or maybe even an Ollie Watkins after some maturation and growth. But I don't see anything really special about him when it comes to his ability to do things with a football.
 
He's not my first choice, but I'd be fine if he's the only striker we add in the summer at this price, given that we strengthen with quality in the 10 role.
 
DJ_21 said:
Gyokeres joins us if we win the Europa. He’ll come for Amorim but he’ll want champions league football. And speaking of the guy, he’s just scored a freekick for sporting. Mr Clinical
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There’s zero way you could possibly know that. Many clubs will be in for him. Many transfers have had last minute twist and we aren’t even favorites to sign him
Remember the geese said:
Gyökeres won't be a flop. He'll be there with Haaland and Isak as the best striker in the league.
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What about the consensus that he scores so much because he has so much space in Portugal which he’d never get in England?
dinostar77 said:
Wonder if Utd would seek an opinion from Kieran Mckenna on Delap's potential and whether he is Utd material in long term?

He's gonna lose him at end of season, maybe he will advise delap to go to Utd or maybe not.
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Sounds highly illegal and unethical considering he’s their manager.
TRUE NUMBER 9 said:
I have watched a lot of him, both for Sporting and also international games. He is EXACTLY the player United need. Guaranteed goals are not cheap but Gyökeres is absolutely worth the fee. My fingers are crossed that Ruben Amorim has told the club to buy him, nobody knows him as well as he does and that, together with the pulling power of the Manchester United name, will hopefully be enough to get this important transfer realised. European football next season will patently also help, so tomorrow night becomes the biggest game of the season, thus far.

For me, Gyökeres simply must be a United player, he is a fantastic striker with natural instincts and well developed ability for finishing and movement with an exemplary work rate. He trains like a beast and performs like one on the pitch. I would love to see him leading the line next season and for many more to follow.
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So as above i brought up Rios problem with his goals saying it’s because he has so much space in Portugal (and could say the same for international games). Does he create many goals himself?
 
TRUE NUMBER 9 said:
Delap for me would be similar level to Hojlund. He may have had a better season this year but neither is the elite level striker United needs. Again, Gyökeres is THE striker for United.
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He will likely decide to go to a club in the champions league so we w9nt have much chance unless we win the europa
 
TheRedHearted said:
What about the consensus that he scores so much because he has so much space in Portugal which he’d never get in England?
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Haaland had tons of space in the German league. When your built like them 2 you’ll get goals in any league. Good in the air, good on the floor. Creates space for himself
 
Powderfinger said:
He's a fast and physical box striker who looks like he'll be a good PL striker for a long time, like an Ivan Toney or maybe even an Ollie Watkins after some maturation and growth. But I don't see anything really special about him when it comes to his ability to do things with a football.
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Which for £30m you can’t argue much against, really. Homegrown and English too.

A signing who’s probably better on paper for those things than he actually he is footballing wise.
 
What stands out to me even more than his goals is his overall game. He's a true modern-day striker - someone who contributes far more than just finishing. Zirkzee has similar qualities, but lacks a real goal threat and doesn't offer much in terms of running in behind. Martial, before his injuries, was a well-rounded forward, but I think Delap brings more intensity and aggression to his game.

As I’ve mentioned before, I’d still prioritise bringing in a more experienced striker, especially while we’re figuring out the front three and wing-back situations. That said, I wouldn’t be against signing Delap - particularly if the reported £30M fee is accurate. He could be a smart long-term option.
 
No brainer for £30m but there will be a lot of competition so we're likely to miss out.
 
Leftback99 said:
No brainer for £30m but there will be a lot of competition so we're likely to miss out.
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Chelsea do have a tonne of strikers already. Arsenal could be a problem if they offer him the starting 9 spot.
 
I’m not seeing it with him. We need players who’ll play a decent part in transforming our team on their own and I don’t think he does that. Stick him in this current team and I don’t think you’ll notice much.
 
Jack-C20 said:
I’m not seeing it with him. We need players who’ll play a decent part in transforming our team on their own and I don’t think he does that. Stick him in this current team and I don’t think you’ll notice much.
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Agreed. Similar to Hojlund. To raw. We need Osihmen or gyokeres to take us up a level
 
Powderfinger said:
He's a fast and physical box striker who looks like he'll be a good PL striker for a long time, like an Ivan Toney or maybe even an Ollie Watkins after some maturation and growth. But I don't see anything really special about him when it comes to his ability to do things with a football.
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For 30m I don't think you're even expecting "special" though. Just solid. If he becomes special then it's a huge bonus
 
Valencia Shin Crosses said:
I think he's better than Hojlund (except for maybe as a pure finisher) but yeah I tend to agree. Although maybe getting better 10's/wingers will be the move that takes us up a level.
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Maybe. Only if the 10s are goalscorers aswell as creative. Pointless us having creative number 10s with no clinical ST
 
bb8 said:
Well, there's the whole thing where we don't actually NEED to sign a striker. Particularly immediately, this summer. We need help in attack, but that can come from different positions. Liverpool doesn't have a particularly good striker, and they're about to win the league. Arsenal also doesn't, and they're in second.

Well run teams focus more on getting a good/great player at the right price than laser focusing on "I need to add at one particular position, right now!". We've done the latter quite often, and most times it ends in tears. We'd be far better off getting a good, young, skilled #10 for a bargain than overpaying for the flavor-of-the-month striker.
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Agree with this entirely. Over a few windows you’ll generally get what you need.

I’d fully expect us to be going into next season with some, or a lot, of our obvious problems still seemingly unaddressed, we have many of them.
 
DJ_21 said:
Maybe. Only if the 10s are goalscorers aswell as creative. Pointless us having creative number 10s with no clinical ST
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I think any big boost to our actual efficiency in the final third will transform the team, whichever form that takes. The amount of loose touches, failed takeons, bad crosses, poorly weighted passes, and terrible decisions that are made on a game by game basis makes improvement pretty easy with a few good buys.
 
From a financial standpoint, I guess it makes sense. Not so much from a footballing one. I don't see anything special, and United really don't need another project striker, unless Hojlund is moved on.
 
Telsim said:
From a financial standpoint, I guess it makes sense. Not so much from a footballing one. I don't see anything special, and United really don't need another project striker, unless Hojlund is moved on.
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If we buy him and a more accomplished striker then it could work.
 
The fee is obviously extraordinarily good for a player of his calibre and potential. But the bigger more important question is whether he is the right player for us and if he is really at the level required to take this club back to competitive status. I don't feel qualified to answer that, I need to watch more of him. But as a general rule I think it more important that we get in the right player, rather than a good player at the right price. I would still be much more encouraged if we had Osimhen as our top target as you know he's a top level striker. We also have two young, project strikers in Zirkzee and Hojlund, and I feel that Delap is of the same profile. I would much prefer us to have a more experienced striker to whom Hojlund can be a backup as he develops.

If we bring in Delap, I wouldn't be surprised to see Hojlund leave, which would be a shame in my mind. I think we should stick with his development for now and instead focus on bringing in a new lead striker. We've invested a lot of time and energy into Hojlund and it would be a shame to waste that when his value is lowest. I feel like he could be a year or so away from taking a significant leap forwards, especially if he's in a position with slightly less intense pressure i.e. being the only true 9 at the club.

So I have my reservations about a potential Delap deal, but need to learn more. He's certainly a good player with good to great prospects.
 
I'm very nervous about Delap.

12 months ago we were all looking at a young striker, who was still very raw, without any track record at a high-level but apparently with a lot of the 'right' attributes - height, pace, physicality - for us to think he had plenty of potential and a high ceiling on his development. After all, he scored 16 goals in his debut season as part of a struggling side. That was Højlund of course and look where we are now.*

We have many needs in this squad but by far the biggest is getting a reliable scorer in. We've had years of failing to produce anything like enough goals. It's the main factor in our inability to improve our points return and fixing it - or even adding say 15 extra goals over a season - is going to be the best catalyst in getting-up the table. Get a goalscorer in and I think we can quickly get up into the Europa places (hey, we have to start somewhere on making progress).

If Arsenal are serious about Gyökeres, then we'll find it hard to do a deal but if there's any indication we can compete using the Amorim factor and a willingness to meet the fee ('Hello Marcus, see you've added another assist tonight...that's got to help with you moving-on'), then we should be doing everything to make him our new 9. It's not a difficult decision.

*I still have hope for Rasmus.
 
Raoul said:
If we buy him and a more accomplished striker then it could work.
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Sure, if Hojlund gets moved on, and Delap and Mateta are brought in, that could work, too. Not sure I'm ready to give up on the Dane, though.
 
2 man midfield said:
Chelsea do have a tonne of strikers already. Arsenal could be a problem if they offer him the starting 9 spot.
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Arsenal will never come close a striker that have the the worst passing numbers in the league. At 61% pass completion he is no where near good enough for them. We shouldn't either.

Compare that to Gyokeres with 80%. Arsenal will go after Gyokeres who is a far far superior player.

I can not believe we are comparing a relegation striker to one of Europe's top scorers who in the 2nd season in a raw surpass 40 goals and assists. This season Gyokeres has 44 goals and assists in only 35 matches and we still have few more games and he will probably hit 50 goals and assists.
 
Raoul said:
If we buy him and a more accomplished striker then it could work.
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Yes but he won’t be going to a club where he isn’t a starter. Or completely thereabouts. If we but an accomplished striker they’ll want to be first choice. If he goes to Chelsea he’s competing with Jackson. If he goes to Arsenal he’s competing with Havertz and Jesus. If he’s going to Liverpool he’s competing with Nuñez. All maybe competition but essentially one he should win.

If we buy him and someone who should be first choice he’s a bench player who might not get ahead in the bigger games.
 
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