He cost just £1.5m: Ipswich already have their perfect Delap replacement….
With Ipswich Town looking set to exit the Premier League at the first time of asking, they will fall back into the second tier knowing their very best players could be cherry-picked.
Having taken a substantial 22 years to return last time they fell out of the elite league, losing their very best players will hardly be ideal.
liam delap ipswich town
Who departs remains to be seen but if they do go down, then their hopes of bouncing straight back up will be made a lot harder if Liam Delap departs Portman Road, with the ex-Manchester City star an understandable hot commodity heading into the busy summer.
Delap’s future at Ipswich
The battle to keep Delap around was always going to be an uphill one with the former Citizens wonderkid now a fully fledged Premier League ace in Suffolk.
Indeed, the 22-year-old centre-forward has an impressive ten strikes next to his name this season from 31 top-flight encounters, meaning Delap is way out in front as Ipswich’s top scorer as they languish all the way down in 18th spot.
Losing Delap’s services would go down as somewhat of a disaster, therefore, but it’s a move Ipswich will likely have to sign off on.
Indeed, the likes of Chelsea, Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal are all reportedly beginning to circle for the £40m-rated marksman, knowing the fate that presumably awaits McKenna’s men.
Ipswich Town’s Liam Delap applauds fans after the match
But, instead of feeling compelled to splash the cash – with rumours suggesting Ipswich could be after rising Wycombe Wanderers star Richard Kone – McKenna could opt to remain calm and methodical in hunting down Delap’s replacement.
Ipswich’s “unique” Delap replacement
Considering the 22-year-old hotshot is the only figure this season to have reached double figures for goals, with Sammie Szmodics lurking behind the in-demand attacker on a lacklustre four, replacing Delap with someone already in the squad may worry Ipswich supporters.
But, most of the personnel at McKenna’s disposal – if relegation does occur – have been there and done it in the EFL in the past, with George Hirst potentially given a confidence boost if Championship football is served back up.
After all, during Ipswich’s triumphant promotion campaign, Hirst would chip in with a respectable seven goals and six assists in league action, a high amount considering his susceptibility to injuries meant he only featured 26 times up top.
This season, too, despite injury issues troubling him once more – alongside the daunting step-up in ability working against him – the Tractor Boys number seven has still managed to play a worthwhile role at points, with four goals and two assists tallied up from a limited 20 outings.
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He notably found some form prior to the international break, serving up a reminder of his qualities by scoring two goals in his last three outings at club level.
Hirst’s numbers for Ipswich.
Stat
Hirst
Games played
72
Goals scored
18
Assists
11
Games missed through injury.
35
Original fee
£1.5m
Value now
£4.1m
Sourced by Transfermarkt.
If the £1.5m buy was to sort out his recurring problems in the treatment room, he might well be an apt replacement for the departing Delap, with 29 goal contributions from 72 games at Portman Road to date aiding two promotion efforts already.
george-hirst-ipswich
Heralded as “unique” by McKenna for his ability to be imposing but also creative, the recently capped senior Scotland international would not need time to get up to speed with things if he was chosen to lead the line next campaign, with an injury-free Hirst perhaps becoming his manager’s starting striker in the very near future.
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