Liam Delap | £30m release clause?

croadyman said:
Apparently David wants Barca, personally feel it would be a very shrewd move as free agent. The only reason Osimhen is in the Turkish league was because he fell out with Napoli over some racist stuff. The guy is in his absolute prime and feel he's made to lead line for this club.
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His price will have to come down before we look at him.
 
Bondi77 said:
His price will have to come down before we look at him.
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Winning Europa League would help fund it and make us more attractive. We also should be looking at doing some kind of deal with Napoli involving Hojlund.

Getting it back on topic I rate Delap, however I'm greedy so want both of them as they could offer different profiles of number 9.
 
Bondi77 said:
Surely the only way that we can say he is proven is his record in Serie A and yet we have two young strikers on our books that were proven in that very same league.
The Turkish league is not strong and I am pretty sure Weghorst was very good in that league but struggled to make an impression in England.
He was good in his brief time in France but David came in after him and has been consistently good ever since and he would be a much cheaper option.
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Hojlund played one season in Serie A and scored 9 goals in 32 league games. Is that “proven” in the league? If so, then he’s also proven in the premier league as in his first season at United he eclipsed that, scoring 10 in 30.
 
Charlie Foley said:
Hojlund played one season in Serie A and scored 9 goals in 32 league games. Is that “proven” in the league? If so, then he’s also proven in the premier league as in his first season at United he eclipsed that, scoring 10 in 30.
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He did all of that at a very young age proving that he had the potential to go on and be better in a stronger league but he has regressed somewhat and his flaws are being exposed under scrutiny.
There are many players that have had a good first season in a league and then get found out in their second but I think with good coaching he could come again.
 
Bondi77 said:
He did all of that at a very young age proving that he had the potential to go on and be better in a stronger league but he has regressed somewhat and his flaws are being exposed under scrutiny.
There are many players that have had a good first season in a league and then get found out in their second but I think with good coaching he could come again.
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Still was not anywhere near proven and neither was Zirkzee. So its a bit odd to compare them to Osimhen
 
Cassidy said:
Still was not anywhere near proven and neither was Zirkzee. So its a bit odd to compare them to Osimhen
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Why do you think the prices were so high then given it was based on their form in Serie A and obviously their young age.
 
At 30 Mill, I hope we are getting him in addition to someone who can lead the line for United (Osimhen,Gyokeres). From what I see, he is better than Hojlund and nails the basics of a no.9 but that's not enough to get us back up where we aim to be
 
MrFishers said:
At 30 Mill, I hope we are getting him in addition to someone who can lead the line for United (Osimhen,Gyokeres). From what I see, he is better than Hojlund and nails the basics of a no.9 but that's not enough to get us back up where we aim to be
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Yes, I think we should prioritise the attacking positions this summer and focus on getting one experienced striker such as Osimhen, one young but PL ready like Delap, and a no.10 like Cunha / Cherki. Hopefully, we will be able to make this happen financially with the departures of Sancho, Rashford, and Hojlund.
 
Berbasbullet said:
This makes sense, that’s probably about our budget and we can get these two done, and then focus on sales to generate revenue to buy one or two more.
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Yup. I would be happy with those two signings. They would make our attack a lot more dynamic and unpredictable, a good step forward. If we're able to raise some funds to increase our depth in midfield as well, some shrewd signings, I would be a lot more optimistic going into next season.
 
I’d be happy with him over Osimhen potentially. I do think we’d need one or maybe two No.10s who can score goals to offset his inexperience if that happens. Cunha definitely fits that description to me.
 
Chairman Steve said:
I’d be happy with him over Osimhen potentially. I do think we’d need one or maybe two No.10s who can score goals to offset his inexperience if that happens. Cunha definitely fits that description to me.
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Cunha and Bruno/Amad/Mainoo would supplement the goals. And our attack would instantly look much better with Cunha and Delap in it instead of Rasmus/Zirkzee/Garnacho
 
Freak said:
Cunha and Bruno/Amad/Mainoo would supplement the goals. And our attack would instantly look much better with Cunha and Delap in it instead of Rasmus/Zirkzee/Garnacho
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Agree, they also offer different profiles in the attack. League + domestic experience likely means the players can hit the ground running quicker than those coming from Europe / abroad and having to transition to the tempo and physicality.
 
A top striker has to be the priority over another young prospect, Delap has had one half decent season and hes still young. We need an experienced striker and an experienced winger and then we can buy more youth prospects.
 
Mike Smalling said:
Is the CMs still Ugarte, Casemiro, Collyer and Mainoo? If so, I'm not sure.
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I imagine the main four will be:

New Midfielder
Ugarte
Casemiro
Bruno

You’d expect the new midfield signing to slot in alongside Ugarte, with Casemiro rotating between the two. Bruno would then be introduced when there’s a need for added creativity from deeper areas - much like the way Amorim managed his midfield setup at Sporting.

Mainoo will most likely play as a 10.
 
Bondi77 said:
Why do you think the prices were so high then given it was based on their form in Serie A and obviously their young age.
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Because those at our club make dumb decisions and enjoy getting ripped off. But in no way were they "proven" in Serie A, especially Hojlund, no matter how desperately you try to spin it, unless by "proven" you mean "played some matches". You can maybe say Zirkzee had shown potential as he had won "YPOTY" but he was still not proven. People keep throwing "proven" around for any player that has played a season and had a few decent matches, players become proven when they have proven their ability consistently for multiple seasons. The whole point is proving they can do it consistently and it is not just a good patch of form.
 
I see the obvious potential that Delap has, and there is also the Wilcox connection too, but to my mind, it's yet again going down the route of "one for the future" with a player that has only had one senior season.
We already have Hojlund, Zirkzee & Chido that are "one for the future" not to mention all the other "one for the future" players we already have in other positions.
I fully believe that we need an established and proven goalscorer that has posted the numbers in a couple of leagues, plus in European competition, think Osimhen for example.
 
Apokalips said:
Because those at our club make dumb decisions and enjoy getting ripped off. But in no way were they "proven" in Serie A, especially Hojlund, no matter how desperately you try to spin it, unless by "proven" you mean "played some matches". You can maybe say Zirkzee had shown potential as he had won "YPOTY" but he was still not proven. People keep throwing "proven" around for any player that has played a season and had a few decent matches, players become proven when they have proven their ability consistently for multiple seasons. The whole point is proving they can do it consistently and it is not just a good patch of form
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Good post. People are prone to recycling phrases they’ve heard without thinking about their meaning.

You should also consider a definition of the differences between a top, a top top, and a top top top player!
 
Osimhen and Delap live in a different universe. The former is top tier. Everything from his CV right to his brand name, his age and his salary is a clear testament to that. Delap on the other hand is potential. He had 1 good season in the EPL, he's young, and he's hungry. In few words Osimhen would be comparable to a Harry Kane or a Haaland. Meanwhile Delap is comparable to a Sesko, a Guessand or....our own Hojlund (though his fee makes him top tier)

Now United had made it clear that finances are back in the picture in terms of transfers. That means that we're reverting to a rather cynical strategy were adults rather then sales gurus decide our transfer strategy.

What makes Delap so attractive?

a- he's young
b- he's EPL proven but he hasn't done enough to snub the cover/competition role
c- he's homegrown
d- the financial package (fee + salary) is very attractive. We don't need him to turn into the next Alan Shearer to justify that financial package and even if he fails miserably then if things are done right then we would still be able to recoup most of the money back

At this point United will have plans for 2 different scenarios.


Scenario 1 - we make it to CL qualification

3 things would happen in that case ie more money, more games (compared to no Europe) and United's pulling factor will go to the roof. That means that we can afford Osimhen and he will probably be interested in joining us on reasonable terms (he will probably want to join us either way but without CL qualification he'll be on the driver's seat in terms of negotiations)). The CL is a gold mine were real money is generated at every step of the way. United will be aware that if they want to go to the latter stages then Osimhen will need to be rested. Can we trust Hojlund to hold the fort in that case? I very much doubt it. Hence I won't be surprised if Delap is signed as cover/competition in that situation


Scenario 2 - We don't make it to CL qualification

In that case we'll have less money, United's pulling factor will be hit but we'll also have less games. The latter is quite significant. For example Napoli ended 10th last season having played 49 games including 8 in the CL. This year they are joint first and that despite having lost key players such as Osimhen and Kvaratskhelia (January). Less games means more time to rest and it means more time to drill the squad during training etc. Under such circumstances were we only play 1 game a week for most of the season then United might consider relying on Delap and possibly keep Hojlund (or replace him with an experienced striker on the cheap like Schick)

I think that United will try to sell Hojlund next season either way. He lost the trust of his teammates and there's no turning back after that. If we make it to CL qualification and we're able to sell him then I won't be surprised if we add Osimhen and Delap. Take away the former then we go for Delap and someone like Schick. Take away the latter then we go for Osimhen (CL qualification) or Delap (no CL qualification) and Hojlund.
 
I really hope this is all noise and he is not our no 1 target as striker. The pressure as a starting 9 at our club is immense and I don't think he will be able to cope with that. Look at how Hojlund has regressed and lost his confidence. Listened to podcast with Rio and Owen Hargreaves and they both agreed that we need an experienced striker to lead the line of us. They commented about how they can see a player in Hojlund but he needs to be a 2nd option and club did him a disservice by buying him and making him starter from the off.

I also worry if Delap can evolve his game enough and not just be a good carrier of the ball. I don't think he's the type of talent that gets us top 4 and keeps us competitive in champions league. I think his level is below that and if we buy him, we are saying the target for next season is somewhere in the top 8. We need to bet on talent and I don't know if he's that kind of talent that get us back up there with the best in the league. If we're going to bet on talent, it must be a Yoro type talent where everyone can see the potential to be a top, top player. That's not delap.
 
So we can sign Cunha and Delap without selling anyone…. Yeah me thinks we’ll target another attacker for sure
 
Ikon said:
I see the obvious potential that Delap has, and there is also the Wilcox connection too, but to my mind, it's yet again going down the route of "one for the future" with a player that has only had one senior season.
We already have Hojlund, Zirkzee & Chido that are "one for the future" not to mention all the other "one for the future" players we already have in other positions.
I fully believe that we need an established and proven goalscorer that has posted the numbers in a couple of leagues, plus in European competition, think Osimhen for example.
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It is just Osimhen though, that's the problem. There is a dearth of proven talent. All teams looking for a striker, like Arsenal and Chelsea, are faced with the same problem. So it's a high demand, low scarcity market, and people really need to understand that when setting their expectations

At least it's better to pay £30m for potential, rather than the £63m+ we forked out for Højlund.
 
Chairman Steve said:
I’d be happy with him over Osimhen potentially. I do think we’d need one or maybe two No.10s who can score goals to offset his inexperience if that happens. Cunha definitely fits that description to me.
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I'm fine with this if we are also bringing in some experience to play off him. Think it could work really well.
 
Think he'd be a good fit for the system. Can run without falling over, which is all I'm asking for. That's where my bar is right now for the 9 position.
 
It would be a very smart signing. He's already better / better suited than Hojlund and at only £30m, there's virtually no chance we lose money on him / get stuck with him if he falls short of the level required for top six
 
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