He's outscoring Delap: Ipswich must rue not signing PL star now worth £67m

This season has been something of a roller coaster for Ipswich Town fans.

Kieran McKenna’s side came into the campaign as one of the favourites to be relegated from the Premier League, and while they are in the drop zone, they have played far better football than most would’ve predicted.

Moreover, with reinforcements signed last month and safety just three points away, there is still every chance they’ll be able to beat the drop, especially if Liam Delap keeps up his impressive form.

However, survival would be even more of a possibility had the club been able to secure one of their prior transfer targets, who’s currently outscoring the young striker.

Liam Delap’s season so far

Following Ipswich’s surprise promotion last season, it was clear that they were going to need more firepower to stand any chance of remaining in the division for more than a single campaign.

So, the club turned to Manchester City’s young prospect Delap, who had spent 23/24 on loan with Championship outfit Hull City, and even though he had only racked up a haul of eight goals and two assists in 32 games, the Tractor Boys decided to splash £20m to bring him to Portman Road.

It may have been something of a gamble at the time, but as we know now, it’s one that has more than paid off.

For example, in just 25 games under McKenna, totalling 1806 minutes, the 22-year-old marksman has scored nine goals and provided two assists, which comes out to an average of a goal involvement every 2.27 games, or every 164.18 minutes.

However, it’s not just the output that makes the Winchester-born star such an important player for the Suffolk side, as his ability to hold up the ball, bring others into play and occupy opposition defenders also makes him a real handful.

With that said, while Delap is having a brilliant season, he is being outscored by another Premier League star the club tried to sign in the past.

The Premier League star Ipswich tried to sign

With how brilliantly Delap has played for Ipswich this season, the player in question has to be someone pretty special to be outscoring him, and they most certainly are.

Morgan Rogers is one of the most exciting players in the top flight, but before he moved to Middlesbrough in the summer of 2023, McKenna told the press that the Tractor Boys were “certainly there or thereabouts to bringing him here a couple of times.”

Unfortunately for the Portman Road faithful, the Northern Irishman wasn’t able to get his man, and after impressing in the northeast, he earned a £16m move to Aston Villa, where he has gone from strength to strength.

For example, in just 33 appearances across the league, Champions League and FA Cup this season, the “magnificent” talent, as dubbed by former professional Stephan Warnock, has scored 11 goals and provided six assists.

Such an incredible tally more than justifies his new valuation of around £67m from CIES Football Observatory.

Ultimately, Ipswich have their own super talent in Delap, but we can’t help imagining that safety would be all but assured if they were able to get a hold of Rogers as well.

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