Chelsea confident of completing £30m Delap transfer in major blow to Man Utd

CHELSEA are increasingly confident of landing Ipswich Town striker Liam Delap despite interest from Manchester United.

The England Under-21 forward, who has scored 12 Premier League goals, has a release clause of just £30million.

United are in the market for a new centre-forward but Delap, 22, is favouring a link-up with the Blues' boss Enzo Maresca, his academy coach at Manchester City.

Chelsea's current recruitment director Joe Shields was instrumental in  Delap's move from Derby to join Man City's star-filled academy in 20219.

The signing of Delap would be seen as a huge coup for Chelsea as he is one of the most in-demand young players in this country.

He joined Ipswich last summer from City in a £15m deal, rising to £20million.

He had a release clause of £40m but that has been reduced by £10m now the Tractor Boys have been relegated.

Arsenal have also been watching the forward, whose goals have not been enough to save Ipswich from relegation back to the Championship.

Delap had hoped his form, particularly in the first half of the season, would be enough to get into Thomas Tuchel’s first England squad in March.

Yet he remained with the U21s along with Crystal Palace’s Adam Wharton and Southampton’s Taylor Harwood-Bellis.

But he did train with England’s senior team at St George’s Park ahead of the World Cup qualifier against Latvia.

Tuchel will name his next squad, on Friday week, for the World Cup qualifier away to Andorra and a friendly at home to Senegal.

But Delap is again set to remain with the U21s as they prepare for the European Championships in Slovakia.

The striker counts a total of 12 goals and two assists in 38 appearances across all competitions this season.

Football is in Delap's blood. His dad Rory played for Stoke City, and Delap Jr appeared on the set of Soccer AM in 2014 alongside his father.

The former Stoke City and Ireland midfielder is best remembered for his insanely long throw-ins.