The United striker target Liam Delap appears Chelsea bound after the Blues won the Conference League last night against Antony and Real Betis. Enzo Maresca's side will also be playing Champions League football after finishing 4th in the league although due to winning the Conference League, they have the option to choose between the CL and Europa League.
Wonder which they'll go for 🤷♂️.
It's been widely known that the Ipswich striker would prefer to join a club that is going to play Champions League football. Chelsea can offer him that. United can't.
In the last few minutes, David Ornstein has said that "Clubs who were pursuing the signing of Liam Delap from Ipswich Town are being informed that he is not moving to them, amid his preference to join Chelsea" via UtdDistrict.
And now in the last half hour, Ornstein has confiremd that Chelsea have an agreement with Ipswich for £30m.
So that pretty much ends that for United's pursuit of the 22 year old.
MUFC have been targeting him for quite some time with him being high on the list to become the club's striker for next season as Rasmus Hojlund has been stinking up the place.
Delap, the son of former Premier League and Stoke City defender Rory Delap (yes the same long throw-in one), has caused division amongst the fan base in terms of whether this deal should be done or not.
Considering how bad Hojlund is, Delap would be an obvious improvement. The Ipswich forward has 12 goals and 2 assists in 37 PL games whereas Hojlund has just the 4 goals and 1 assist from 32 matches.
For Delap to be doing that with a relegation side is quite impressive although United aren't that much better as we finished in 15th to their 19th.
With the Englishman now looking likely to go to Chelsea, it does leave United in a bit of a pickle.
Delap was their number one choice for centre-forward. While there has been links with the likes of Viktor Gyokeres and Victor Osimhen, it was clear that Ipswich's striker was the target for United. Now that he's gone, who do the club go for?
Both Gyokeres and Osimhen won't be cheap and without Champions League football (or any European football) bringing them in would be much harder than a young, inexperienced, recently relegated number 9.
Why Delap has been heavily linked with United and Chelsea was because we are desperate for cheap deals considering we have no money but also no doubt due to the influence of Technical Director Jason Wilcox who worked with Delap whilst the two were at Southampton.
They were also together at Man City, Wilcox as Academy Director and Delap part of the academy. Wilcox also played a key role in Delap's development during the early stages of his career.
But another man who was also involved at Man City during this period was Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca. He worked under Jason Wilcox and coached Delap. The young striker was vital to Man City's Premier League 2 title victory.
This could explain why the two clubs are in for him.
Jadon Sancho
One player that is ours is Jadon Sancho who is also involved with Chelsea. The United loanee spent this campaign with the Blues which culminated in Champions League football and that Conference League win.
Chelsea have the obligation to buy the forward should they have finished 14th or above in the league (which they have) however, they also have the choice to cancel this proposal if they don't want the player but will have to pay United £5m to do so.
At this point, things are still up in the air as it isn't known whether Chelsea want to keep him or not. He's managed just the 4 goals and 10 assists in his time at the Bridge and other than moments, hasn't really produced anything consistent even though there is clearly some quality with this player. This is why the club is undecided on what to do regarding his future.
Marcus Rashford
Another player who has been on loan to a Premier League side in Aston Villa is Marcus Rashford. It's still weird to think that this guy played for another club 😵.
He is being heavily linked with a move to Barcelona, which United's no 10 sees as a 'dream move'.
Rashford is a player that was cast aside by Ruben Amorim from the first Manchester Derby in mid-December. He and Alejandro Garnacho (who's future is also said to be away from Old Trafford) were left out of the matchday squad completely by the United boss. Garnacho made his way back into the team whereas Rashford didn't play for nine matches thereafter.
He then went to Villa on loan in January and had done a decent job scoring 4 times and assisting on 6 occasion. He then picked up a hamstring injury towards the end of the season which resulted in a premature finish to what was seen as a successful loan spell in which the doctor played with a smile on his face.
The reported price United will be willing to accept for Rashford is said to be £40m with his preference being to join a Champions League side. That potential move to Barca is reported to be a loan with an option to buy as well as needing a salary reduction (he's currently on £325k-a-week at United) due to the financial restrictions faced by the Catalans.
Toni Juanmarti, a Spanish journalist who covers Barcelona, says that manager "Hansi Flick has given the GREEN LIGHT to sign Marcus Rashford.
The player is "crazy to join"" via Managing Barca.
The newly-crowned La Liga champions have also been linked with Liverpool's Luis Diaz for that left-wing position.
Other news then says that he doesn't mind staying at Villa although moving to clubs in London have been ruled out.
At the moment Rashford will return to United and be part of pre-season as his contract expires in June 2028 however, it seems highly likely that he will leave especially considering the difficult relationship he has with Ruben Amorim.
Final Thoughts
Liam Deflop lap, Liam Delap 😏, was a player that I couldn't and still can't understand why we were in for him. I call him the English Rasmus because he is pretty much the same as our young, inexperienced Danish striker.
Yes Delap has more goals but remember, we have a problem with creating chances for the striker. While Hojlund has been terrible even when he has had goal scoring opportunities, it's not as if we do make things happen for the no 9 regularly. I doubt that Ipswich were as free-flowing as Liverpool but at our club, it's a different type of pressure.
I also feel that because Delap is young and not quite there yet in terms of his potential, it will take time for him to develop. We do like young players at United and will give them a chance more than any other type of player but can we afford that time? We aren't in a position to be taking risks as we are diabolical. We need proven players which is why I can't understand pushing for Delap or any other young player.
This must be something from Wilcox. I'm not sure who else will be pushing for this player.
I also don't like the fact that he apparently wants to play for a side that is in the CL. Everyone wants to play in the Champions League but when you're a young, up-and-coming striker from a relegated side and a club like United want you, surely you would take the deal even at this United?
Who does he think he is? Prime Karim Benzema?!
So I am not a fan of his nor this deal and all I can say is,
Thank you Chelsea 🙌.
I guess the problem is now on finding a replacement for him. It's weird to think that our primary striking target was a relegated Delap when the options of more experienced and far suprior options are available in Osimhen and Gyokeres.
But now that the option of the Ipswich forward is gone (thank goodness) United will have to look elsewhere which may mean Victor with a C or Viktor with a K.
Osimhen's problem is more his wages as he is demanding around £10m per year which amounts to close to £200k-a-week however, other reports indicate that he might want to up that to £250k-£340k-a-week which is obviously a problem as that is not the direction the club want to be heading.
In saying that, we are said to be handing Matheus Cunha £200k-a-week once he joins the club. Many (including myself) believe this to be too much. I can understand why Osimhen would want such a high wage especially taking into account how much we give our players who are shite.
As for Gyokeres, he is obviously more suited to Amorim ball having been made the player he is under it. He and Amorim had a great partnership and has led the man behind the mask (isn't that a top celebration tho 🔥) to be the hottest striker in football.
He has scored 96 goals in 101 matches across the last two seasons. Mad 🤯. Regardless of whether he plays in a league that many would say isn't the strongest, these numbers are still ridiculous.
This is a fucking striker!
The problem for United with Amorim's former forward is the same as Liam Delap: Gyokeres wants CL football. Arsenal are also the side who are leading the race to sign the 28 year old so it looks like he and Osimhen are off the table.
He would actually cost a bargain at £55m-£70m.
So I guess it will be Hojlund for another season. Yay 😐.
Sancho and Rashford are two players and more importantly, two personalities that we can do without at United. I think this is more of the reason as to why there's been issues with them and the managers.
Sancho has had a long line of off-field problems in his three seasons at Old Trafford on top of not performing. He is also quite expensive with a wage of £250k-a-week.
The fact that he's been so negative towards the club as well is another reason to get rid of him. I don't actually understand what the club and fans did to him for him to be so against us.
It's even funnier that Chelsea don't know whether they want him or not 🤣. I'm not really someone who wishes ill upon someone but sometimes, people do deserve it.
Freedom fighter 😂😭.
Imagine him having to come back to United even if for a short period after all this shit and because Chelsea don't want him 🤣.
Rashford is a little different even though he too, has had his disciplinary issues. He's at least never really been disrespectful towards the club but when it comes to his performances and attitude, it appeared as if he didn't care about playing for us as he was so lackluster in every game for the past 18 months.
He needed to be moved on one way or another for his own good and what happened at Villa was absolutely beneficial to him. Such a spell is part of the reason as to why he's receiving this interest from Barcelona. That would be a great move.
While he may not earn as much money, it is still going to be a decent amount, he will be playing at the highest level and he'll be living in Barcelona which seems like a lovely place.
However, I don't know how much football he will be playing with the form of Raphinha on the left. He definitely cannot be dropped and while Rashford can play on the right or up front, he isn't at his best in those positions nor is he going to replace Lamine Yamal or Robert Lewandowski.
He will have to be content with being a squad player but come to think about it, with the way Barca play under Flick, I could see Rashford working whenever on the pitch. That fast type of breakaway is playing to his strength and it's when he is at his best.
£40m may not be an ideal price for a player like him but it's not bad either. I think he needs to move on for himself and we need to move on from him as a club.
Liam Delap looks set to head to Chelsea all but ending Man Utd's chance of signing him | Liam Delap: Creator: Richard Pelham | Credit: Getty Images Copyright: 2024 Getty Images via Man Utd News
Marcus Rashford wants move to Barcelona | Marcus Rashford: Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images via Sempre Barca
Jadon Sancho's future is uncertain as Chelsea are undecided on whether to keep him or not | Jadon Sancho: Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images via Stretty News