Will Man City regret selling Liam Delap? Top U21 scorer across top five leagues

It was a thrilling weekend of Premier League football with Brentford’s 4-3 win over Ipswich Town the most dramatic encounter. Brentford battled back from 0-2 down to lead 3-2 but the Tractor Boys thought they’d secured a point with Liam Delap’s late goal before Bryan Mbeumo landed a late suckerpunch. 

Ipswich remain without a win after nine games on their return to the Premier League but Delap has been a shining light for Kieran McKenna’s men. Ipswich paid Manchester City an initial €17.85 million to sign the talented striker and he’s delivered with five goals in nine league games. Delap was tipped for big things when emerging through City’s prestigious academy and could they live to regret cashing in like with Cole Palmer? Despite playing for a struggling side, Delap is the joint-top U21 goal scorer across the top five leagues and he’s been touted as a potential future England No.9. 

No U21 player has scored more top five league goals than Liam Delap

Delap was surprisingly dropped for the trip to Brentford and it was the first Premier League game that he’s failed to start since moving to Ipswich. But the 21-year-old made an excellent impact off the bench with a well-taken goal and he came within inches of a late equaliser with a sublime effort from outside the box that hit the post. As the graphic below illustrates, Delap ranks joint top for U21 players with the most goals in the top five leagues with Barcelona sensation Lamine Yamal and Chelsea loanee Andrey Santos.

The English striker is amongst esteemed company on the top ten list with German wonderkids Jamal Musiala and Florian Wirtz scoring four times in the Bundesliga. Jhon Durán's incredible impact from the bench this season is well documented but Delap has outscored the Aston Villa striker.    

Could Liam Delap become England’s future No.9?

Delap is a regular in the England U21 squad but he’s been tipped for a senior call-up for the November internationals. Lee Carsley will take charge of the double-header against Ireland and Greece before Thomas Tuchel takes the reins and the interim boss has already handed debuts to a number of his former U21 players. Harry Kane is England’s undisputed first-choice striker but he will turn 33 just after the next World Cup and there’s a relative dearth of young England strikers coming through the ranks. 

Ollie Watkins and Ivan Toney were the two other natural strikers in the England squad for Euro 2024. Watkins remains second choice to Kane but he’s also 28, while Toney will likely no longer be considered after moving to Saudi Arabia. At just 21, Delap represents the future and his all-round game and physicality has been extremely impressive at Ipswich. After several indifferent loan spells, Delap is developing at an impressive rate and there’s similarities between Kane - who was famously a late developer. 

Is Liam Delap the next Cole Palmer for Manchester City? 

“He is a killer, a typical British striker, an incredible finisher. He has to improve when he drops and his first touch. He has a special quality. He is a different type of striker.” Pep Guardiola was effusive in praise for Delap in 2022 but he was never truly afforded a real chance in Man City’s first team. Delap was prolific for City at youth level but only played 170 minutes for the first-team, scoring one goal. 

It’s interesting, however, that City included a buy-back option when selling Delap this summer and that offers them future protection. While Guardiola has famously played without a striker regularly across his managerial career, Erling Haaland is the only natural first-team ready No.9 on City’s books. Internally, City will regret the decision to allow Palmer to join Chelsea while former academy stars Morgan Rogers and Jamie Gittens are delivering on their potential at Aston Villa and Borussia Dortmund. Delap is proving that he possesses the required quality to play in the Premier League with Tottenham reportedly registering an interest. Whether City will activate their buy-back option in the future remains to be seen but Delap has enjoyed an excellent start and Ipswich and he’s been one of the best young strikers in Europe.