Manchester City academy graduate Liam Delap is among three strikers Manchester United are keeping tabs on as Ruben Amorim also wants to sign competition for Kobbie Mainoo in midfield.
Delap left City for Ipswich in the summer for £15m and has impressed in his debut season after a loan spell with Hull last term.
He already has six Premier League goals for Kieran McKenna’s side and David Ornstein of The Athletic has confirmed that the Red Devils have ‘noted’ his excellent start to the campaign with ‘another centre-forward expected to be on the agenda’ when Sir Jim Ratcliffe opens the chequebook for Ruben Amorim.
They will though likely face competition for Delap, with Chelsea also said to be among his admirers, while City could also scupper a move as they put matching rights or buyback clauses in most sales.
It’s not clear from the report when United will be able to enter the market amid claims from elsewhere that the Portuguese boss will have to make do with what he has for now in a bid to stay within the bounds of profit and sustainability regulations, but Ornstein claims two other strikers on their radar.
The report states:
‘Gyokeres will inevitably come up in discussions given his importance in Amorim’s system at Sporting and long-standing interest in Benjamin Sesko, who United tried to sign at the start of last summer, remains. United have also noted Liam Delap’s impact in the Premier League at Ipswich.’
The switch to 3-4-3 also means Amorim is keen to add wing-backs to his squad, with Antony – who started on the right in the 3-2 win over Bodo/Glimt on Thursday – ‘likely set for the exit unless he sparks a turnaround’.
The report adds:
‘There are several possibilities in the wing-back role, but Quenda’semergence this season makes him a very attractive proposition, aged just 17. United may decide to go for a more established player, however, and have been keeping track of Jeremie Frimpong at Bayer Leverkusen for several seasons.’
MORE MAN UTD COVERAGE ON F365…
👉 Mailbox: Rashford is ‘cooked’, Liverpool are giddy and Arsenal will still win the title
👉 Ruben Amorim to request £50m bid for ‘next Ruben Dias’ in Dan Ashworth transfer meeting
👉 Hargreaves insists on Amorim change for Arsenal; names Man Utd sub who should ‘walk into’ the team
United tried to offload Casemiro in the summer ‘and are likely to explore interest again’ amid an attempt to strengthen links in Saudi Arabia and Turkey, where they believe they can palm off some of their surplus stars to trim their bulging wage bill.
Joshua Zirkzee – who only joined United in the summer from Bologna – is another player they may consider offers for, depending how he performs under Amorim, particularly as they’re in the market for another striker.
There’s a belief they may be able to get all of their money back on the Netherlands international having paid a modest £36.5m to the Serie A side thanks to his release clause.
Mainoo is yet to make an appearance under Amorim as he works his way back from injury, and while most assume he’s set to play a key role in the new era at Old Trafford, as the report claims, it looks likely he will have competition as ‘United are also likely to want to add a mobile creative player to operate in one of the deeper midfield roles.’
