Ian Wright has urged Manchester United to make a summer swoop for Ipswich Town striker and Chelsea transfer target Liam Delap.
Delap has impressed in his first season in the Premier League, scoring nine goals in 23 appearances since arriving at Portman Road from Manchester City in the summer.
The 22-year-old’s exploits and physical characteristics have led to interest from several top clubs, with Chelsea said to be one of the clubs monitoring the striker’s situation ahead of next summer.
A return to City could also be on the cards as Pep Guardiola’s side are said to have inserted a buy-back clause in the deal that saw Delap originally move to Ipswich.
United, meanwhile, still find themselves in desperate need of a reliable goalscorer, with Ruben Amorim even resorting to deploying Kobbie Mainoo as a false nine in a disappointing 2-0 defeat to Crystal Palace in early February.
Both Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee have flattered to deceive since their respective moves to Old Trafford, with the pair registering just five goals combined in the league this season.
And having opted against signing another forward in January, Wright believes the club should now go all out to try and win the race for Delap’s signature in the summer.
‘Go and get Delap,’ the former Arsenal striker on the most recent episode of Wrighty’s House when addressing United’s striking woes.
‘The thing is he’s got that hunger and disrespect for everybody and it just feels like the kind of player they need.
‘They need a hero like that and he’s a hero waiting to happen. He’s hungry.’
Wright, however, was keen to stress that United’s in-possession approach must improve drastically before any striker can truly thrive in Amorim’s set-up.
‘Obviously, Zirkzee came on (against Leicester in the FA Cup) and he got one but I don’t think they put the ball in the box enough,’ Wright added.
‘I don’t think there’s anyone in the box for when the cross comes in. I don’t think they link the play or keep the ball well enough in the final third to sustain pressure on a team.
‘They lose the ball and then teams can break on them. There’s no structure to whether they are going to try to play through teams or around them.
‘So the forwards don’t know what’s coming. They don’t get the kind of service they depend on.
‘When’s the last time you saw a Man United player score a goal where he’s got across a guy at a near post? You don’t see those goals from Man United.’
Speaking earlier in the season, Delap said he was paying no attention to speculation linking him with a move away from Ipswich.
‘I don’t really look at things like that. So, yes, I’m just focused on Ipswich,’ Delap told Suffolk News in late December.
‘We are lucky to be playing in the Premier League. I think we’ve got a great opportunity here at Ipswich and we’re just trying to show our ability week in, week out, that’s a big plus for me.’
