Man Utd have secret weapon to complete Liam Delap transfer, he played twice for the club in four years

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Manchester United’s summer transfer window and their targets list is slowly taking shape, with Liam Delap becoming an increasingly concrete link.

Liam Delap has had a breakthrough season with Ipswich despite the team getting relegated, which has only served to magnify his efforts as they’ve come in a struggling team.

Delap’s release clause means he’ll be extremely affordable too but that also means that he’ll be affordable for everyone, causing a transfer war.

Fortunately, United have a secret weapon up their sleeves to complete Delap’s transfer. He played just two games for the club in four years.

Man Utd’s secret weapon in Liam Delap transfer chase

Delap has been described as a “different beast” by Kieran McKenna this season for his exploits and his ability to block out all the noise around his future.

It’s been reported that Delap is not United’s primary striker target which could be because the team is not convinced they’ll win in the bidding war for his services.

However, they might be able to call upon the services of an ex-player who played at Old Trafford twice in four years to swing the stakes in their favour.

According to The Athletic, Delap has worked closely at Ipswich with Lee Grant, one-time Man Utd’s backup goalkeeper, now a member of McKenna’s staff at Ipswich.

The report states: “Delap has benefited from hours on the training ground at Ipswich with the coach, Lee Grant, who specialises with the team’s attacking players and was once a team-mate of Delap’s father, Rory, at Stoke City.

“Grant has worked closely with Delap on every aspect of his performance, including the right way to channel his physicality and unsettle opponents with his powerful build.”

Lee Grant left Man Utd on good terms

With McKenna having a history with United, Grant leaving the club on good terms, and Ineos wanting to build around young players under an exciting coach in Ruben Amorim, things start falling in United’s favour.

£30 million for a player of Delap’s quality means a mountain of clubs will be after him so United can use any trump card they have to entice him.

This works in their favour as they can use both McKenna and Grant to whisper in Delap’s ear about the virtues of moving to Old Trafford.

Combine that with the fact that he’ll almost certainly be the first-choice striker at United, something that can’t be said for every interested club, and this deal suddenly looks quite possible.

Who knew that the infamous transfer window of 2018 (Fred, Lee Grant, and Diogo Dalot) that infuriated Jose Mourinho to no end would pay off seven years later?