I don't think there is any point.
Generally speaking, younger players like Delap need to be at a club where they can be the main guy in order to jump to that next level (or two).
Are they going to develop enough to see a real ROI on the bench?
The new number 9…
- Thread starter Buddha
- Start date
- Latest activity Latest activity:
I don't think there is any point.
Generally speaking, younger players like Delap need to be at a club where they can be the main guy in order to jump to that next level (or two).
Are they going to develop enough to see a real ROI on the bench?
Tbh, I can see us buying him, mainly because he's cheap(ish), young, and English. We probably won't go for Isak, Pedro and Alvarez due to price. Cunha due to attitude. Ekitike due to inexperience.
It'll be an underwhelming signing with Jota as backup for the 9 next year I reckon
If Leipzig misses out on CL qualification, Simons might climb up the ranking in our shortlist?
View: https://x.com/AnfieldSector/status/1907103039737020625
View: https://x.com/domstruly/status/1907122183639339151
Only seen him in internationals but he feels too light-weight. Keita mark II.
Sure but then we will essentially be the Dutch national team.
Like Foden?
He's not signing to play as a Nine, so doesnt belong on this thread.
That said it would be a great signing. I can't think of a single reason to say no for £60 milion, other than that huge ugly forehead.
Nope. not when Virgil goes to PSG.
No way we are signing expensive 27 year olds.
We are looking for the next big thing, who's stats suggest Mane, Salah or more.
with terrific sell on value.
What's the point in negotiating hard on the three amigos and then wasting it overpaying a new striker with no sell on value.
Is Ollie Bierhof available?
We are looking for the next big thing, who's stats suggest Mane, Salah or more.
with terrific sell on value.
What's the point in negotiating hard on the three amigos and then wasting it overpaying a new striker with no sell on value.
Is Ollie Bierhof available?
We'd have to pay his release clause which I think is €150m. He's good and I might even advocate paying it if that's the only business we had to do this summer, but we need about 4 other players as well.
We'd be absolutely mental if we did that.
I'd rather pay just a signing on fee and get Jonathan David to be that guy who's not the main guy.
Leaves more money for the main guy.
Main guy ain't gonna be more than 60m. Too many positions to cover to spunk it all on one player
There is confidence in Saudi Arabia that Liverpool and Egypt forward Mohamed Salah, 32, is open to joining the Saudi Pro League once his deal expires with the Reds this summer. (Telegraph - subscription required)
I think he’s quite athletic for a #10.
We don’t know for sure yet what attacking players Slot likes, but I think if Klopp was here we would definitely go for Xavi Simons - he seems to tick all the boxes: extremely versatile, good presser, untapped potential, team player. Arguably the closest thing to Firmino out of the Bundesliga since Bobby himself.
View: https://x.com/UTDONANA24/status/1907046521264099646
Before he turned 22 in Feb 2025:
View: https://x.com/DataMB_/status/1876637931353305298
Stats from earlier in the season:
Dated 20 Nov 2024
Liam Delap: The One-Man Battering Ram Carrying Ipswich’s Survival Bid
McKenna has recognised the need to adapt to life in the Premier League. Ipswich have averaged just 40.5% possession, the second-lowest figure in the top flight after Everton (38.5%), and they have had to dig in, battle and ride their luck for periods in most of their games since promotion. That has meant they’ve had to retain an attacking threat on the break, and Delap has been integral.
His profile means he is a perfect fit for a team who need to get up the pitch quickly and directly when they do attack, and he has provided some of the season’s most eye-catching moments with his runs. Many of his most impressive numbers this season back up the idea that he could feasibly play rugby – a sport in which, alongside athletics, he also excelled as a schoolboy. The thing is, Delap is also skilled enough to keep control of a ball at his feet while travelling both fast and far under pressure. He’d be wasted on the rugby field.
Of players to have played at least 200 minutes in the Premier League this season, Delap averages the longest carries (where a carry is defined as moving with the ball at least five metres), at 14.7m per carry. He also averages the third-highest distance progressed towards the opposition’s goal (10.1m per carry), behind Diogo Jota (10.5m) and Michail Antonio (10.4m).
He also ranks favourably for carry directness – the percentage of the total distance covered through carries that is towards the opposition’s goal – with 68.7%. That is, for every 100m he carries the ball, he moves 68.7m upfield, which is the seventh-highest of all attackers and 12th-highest overall.
So, when he gets on the ball, he tends to move long distances with it, and he consistently takes his team up the pitch, away from the danger of their own goal and into positions where they can pose a threat of their own.
There is little more thrilling sight in football than watching a player move with the ball at speed towards the opposition’s goal, particularly when they get into a shooting position at the end of it. Watch a player do that once, and it essentially means that every time they get on the ball there’s a chance there might be a goal at the end of it. That is very much the case with Delap.
Only four players (Iliman Ndiaye, Amad Diallo, Bruno Fernandes and James Maddison) have recorded more shot-ending carries (eight each) in the Premier League this season than Delap (seven), but the difference is how far he is carrying it each time. Delap has covered a colossal 154.9m with the ball before shooting, which is more than anyone else in the league and more than twice as far as any of those four players with more shot-ending carries (Ndiaye – 76.6m).
In the list of the longest shot-ending carries in the Premier League this season, Delap is the only player to appear twice in the top 15, and his second-longest shot-ending carry also brought a goal.
At 33.2m, Delap’s carry in the lead-up to his sensational equaliser against Aston Villa was the second-furthest anyone has travelled with the ball before scoring a goal in the Premier League in 2024-25. And while Nicolas Jackson leads the way with his 33.7m carry before his opener against West Ham back in September, Delap is also responsible for the third-longest goal-ending carry, with his 30.1m run prior to netting against Fulham.
View: https://x.com/IpswichTown/status/1840499290482909685
View: https://x.com/IpswichTown/status/1831663576811249728
But there’s more. Delap struck that wondergoal from 26.2m out, making it the longest-range goal that has followed a carry by anyone in the top flight this season. So, as well as being able to carry the ball a long way before shooting, he is also capable of scoring from a long way out, too. The combination is a frightening one, and makes him a threat just about whenever he gets on the ball anywhere on the pitch.
Dated 15 Feb 2025
Liam Delap: How Man City academy product became a one-man wrecking-ball leading Ipswich's survival charge
Liam Delap's best bits for Ipswich Town in the 2024/25 Premier League
Dated 28 Mar 2025
Vote: Who is the Premier League signing of the season so far?
Have your say on who has made the biggest impact for their new club in 2024/25
www.premierleague.com
And of all the players to have featured for at least 800 minutes, Delap is only ranked behind Anthony Elanga and Michail Antonio for the length of progressive carries, averaging 15 metres.
View: https://x.com/LewisFN00/status/1907194073808593286
View: https://x.com/UTDONANA24/status/1907046521264099646
Before he turned 22 in Feb 2025:
View: https://x.com/DataMB_/status/1876637931353305298
Stats from earlier in the season:
Dated 20 Nov 2024
Liam Delap: The One-Man Battering Ram Carrying Ipswich’s Survival Bid
McKenna has recognised the need to adapt to life in the Premier League. Ipswich have averaged just 40.5% possession, the second-lowest figure in the top flight after Everton (38.5%), and they have had to dig in, battle and ride their luck for periods in most of their games since promotion. That has meant they’ve had to retain an attacking threat on the break, and Delap has been integral.
His profile means he is a perfect fit for a team who need to get up the pitch quickly and directly when they do attack, and he has provided some of the season’s most eye-catching moments with his runs. Many of his most impressive numbers this season back up the idea that he could feasibly play rugby – a sport in which, alongside athletics, he also excelled as a schoolboy. The thing is, Delap is also skilled enough to keep control of a ball at his feet while travelling both fast and far under pressure. He’d be wasted on the rugby field.
Of players to have played at least 200 minutes in the Premier League this season, Delap averages the longest carries (where a carry is defined as moving with the ball at least five metres), at 14.7m per carry. He also averages the third-highest distance progressed towards the opposition’s goal (10.1m per carry), behind Diogo Jota (10.5m) and Michail Antonio (10.4m).
He also ranks favourably for carry directness – the percentage of the total distance covered through carries that is towards the opposition’s goal – with 68.7%. That is, for every 100m he carries the ball, he moves 68.7m upfield, which is the seventh-highest of all attackers and 12th-highest overall.
View attachment 3931
So, when he gets on the ball, he tends to move long distances with it, and he consistently takes his team up the pitch, away from the danger of their own goal and into positions where they can pose a threat of their own.
There is little more thrilling sight in football than watching a player move with the ball at speed towards the opposition’s goal, particularly when they get into a shooting position at the end of it. Watch a player do that once, and it essentially means that every time they get on the ball there’s a chance there might be a goal at the end of it. That is very much the case with Delap.
Only four players (Iliman Ndiaye, Amad Diallo, Bruno Fernandes and James Maddison) have recorded more shot-ending carries (eight each) in the Premier League this season than Delap (seven), but the difference is how far he is carrying it each time. Delap has covered a colossal 154.9m with the ball before shooting, which is more than anyone else in the league and more than twice as far as any of those four players with more shot-ending carries (Ndiaye – 76.6m).
In the list of the longest shot-ending carries in the Premier League this season, Delap is the only player to appear twice in the top 15, and his second-longest shot-ending carry also brought a goal.
At 33.2m, Delap’s carry in the lead-up to his sensational equaliser against Aston Villa was the second-furthest anyone has travelled with the ball before scoring a goal in the Premier League in 2024-25. And while Nicolas Jackson leads the way with his 33.7m carry before his opener against West Ham back in September, Delap is also responsible for the third-longest goal-ending carry, with his 30.1m run prior to netting against Fulham.
View: https://x.com/IpswichTown/status/1840499290482909685
View: https://x.com/IpswichTown/status/1831663576811249728
But there’s more. Delap struck that wondergoal from 26.2m out, making it the longest-range goal that has followed a carry by anyone in the top flight this season. So, as well as being able to carry the ball a long way before shooting, he is also capable of scoring from a long way out, too. The combination is a frightening one, and makes him a threat just about whenever he gets on the ball anywhere on the pitch.
Dated 15 Feb 2025
Liam Delap: How Man City academy product became a one-man wrecking-ball leading Ipswich's survival charge
Liam Delap's best bits for Ipswich Town in the 2024/25 Premier League
Dated 28 Mar 2025
His 21 shots at the end of ball carries is a season-high among regular centre-forwards, and his stellar individual goal at home to Fulham is a great example of what he brings.Vote: Who is the Premier League signing of the season so far?
Have your say on who has made the biggest impact for their new club in 2024/25
And of all the players to have featured for at least 800 minutes, Delap is only ranked behind Anthony Elanga and Michail Antonio for the length of progressive carries, averaging 15 metres.
View: https://x.com/LewisFN00/status/1907194073808593286
Delap is this seasons Evan Ferguson.
I agree 100% but I thought the same about Gravy and I don't know shit about anything so he might be good actually
Other than signing Harry Kane off Bayern or Alvarez off Atletico, there's no point signing a striker. They will be a failure.
If Delap is £40m, I can live with that. I do have some concerns about Gyokeres joining Arsenal and becoming prolific, and Marmoush seems to be finding form at City. Our main rivals will likely be more clinical and productive up front next season, and we have to anticipate some drop off in Salah at some point, so standing still at number nine isn't an option.
I don't think any striker represents both value or has the ability to take us to next level, so really it's a case of signing the player with the core attributes that Slot can work with. Hopefully the data nerds can pull something out the bag.
I don't think any striker represents both value or has the ability to take us to next level, so really it's a case of signing the player with the core attributes that Slot can work with. Hopefully the data nerds can pull something out the bag.
I think he is a very top prospect and has all the atteibutes to be brilliant for us. I would ditch him for Nunez anyday.
Maybe we should be looking for a better number 10 than Szob. Seems like the most realistic upgrade in terms of attacking contribution.
100% agree
Either he improves or he goes to the bench. We can't rely on Salah being the only creator in the team.