Manchester United are woefully short on quality up top with Rasmus Hojlund the only fit senior option at Ruben Amorim’s disposal at the moment.
Marcus Rashford was loaned out in January while Joshua Zirkzee suffered a season-ending injury last Sunday. Despite the Dane’s woeful form, the head coach has no choice but to start him on Thursday in the Europa League quarter-final second leg.
But the Portuguese tactician will not want a repeat next season and will be desperate for reinforcements in the summer. Viktor Gyokeres and Victor Osimhen are among his top priorities.
But while the Swede will demand Champions League football, the Nigerian’s wage demands are a major obstacle and only winning the Europa League can help INEOS get either of the two deals over the line.
Striker hunt
Which is why they have prepared a backup list with Liam Delap on top of that particular file with the former Manchester City academy starlet impressing for Ipswich Town on their return to the Premier League.
Despite the Tractor Boys’ looking favourites for the drop, the 22-year-old has managed 12 goals and two assists and his impressive displays have garnered him a lot of interest from top clubs.
Chelsea have also been long-term admirers but recent reports had claimed that United’s wage offer to the England U21 international was superior than theirs which made them favourites.
Now, Turkish publication ASPOR have revealed that Besiktas have joined the race for the Englishman with former United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer eyeing attacking reinforcements of his own.
Besiktas join Delap race
“Beşiktaş experienced great difficulty in scoring goals during İmmobile’s inconsistent performance. Therefore, a low-cost, effective forward player in front of goal is on the agenda instead of the Italian star.
“The black and white managers are focusing on players who can contribute directly to this area, and have included young players in their list as part of the next season’s planning. Kartal’s target is Ipswich Town’s goal scorer Liam Delap, who is going through difficult times in the English Premier League.”
Besiktas have a greater chance of offering the Ipswich striker a shot at playing in Europe next season but the player might want to remain in England.
It will be intriguing to see how United deal with this latest threat. The Red Devils have other backup options like Jean Philippe-Mateta as well while Christopher Vivell is also pushing for Benjamin Sesko’s signature.
Feature image Stephen Pond via Getty Images
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Ayantan Chowdhury
Ayantan has worked for 10 years in the Indian sports media industry, writing for the biggest newspapers and websites but his heart was always set on writing about his favourite club. Currently an editor at The Peoples Person. You can follow him on X: @ayantanc_25
