Liam Delap, a Winchester-born fighter who progressed from Derby County’s academy to Manchester City’s lower divisions, has also pitched in six first-team games for City, despite loan spells at Stoke City, Preston North End and Hull City
However, he was unable to compete for first-team places at the highly competitive club and, in search of opportunities, moved to promoted Ipswich Town last summer, where the 22-year-old striker has been a revelation for the struggling side, scoring 10 goals in 28 Premier League games.
The young attacker, who has been given some playing time, has enjoyed a steady development and the stronger clubs are not turning a blind eye to his success. Despite his large stature, he is also fast and can continue to battle with opposing defenders up front.
According to TEAMtalk, Liverpool and Chelsea are planning to pull the plug on the club, who are likely to be relegated to the Championship next season, and a battle could break out between the two clubs for the 22-year-old forward.
Liverpool have failed to score in the centre-forward corps of Darwin Nunez and Diogo Jota. Although overshadowed by the goals of Mohamed Salah and Cody Gakpo, the decline in goal involvement of the forwards is critical towards the second half of the season.
Even if he renews his contract, it is not advisable to leave too much of the scoring to Egyptian King, who is approaching the veteran stage of his career. In the medium to long term, securing a goal-scoring attacker is a must, and a forward with a promising future in Ipswich could be the best solution.
However, this is the first time he has played in the Premier League all year. We need to see if he has the potential to continue this play and what he can do in a team with a high possession rate rather than on the counter.
At the moment it is not certain how far Liverpool can go and it is unlikely they will extend their tentacles to a player with so little experience at a top club, but will the future come to defy expectations…?