Talk of the Town
Ipswich Town manager Kieran McKenna has confirmed that Liam Delap was given permission to hold talks with clubs this week.
As talkSPORT reported on Monday, Delap has already met Manchester United and will also speak to top brass at Chelsea.
The England Under-21 striker, who has scored 12 goals for relegated Ipswich, has also attracted interest from Newcastle.
The former Manchester City youngster has a £30million release clause following the Tractor Boys’ drop into the Championship.
Delap would ideally prefer to return to the north west, but will consider several factors, including the chance to play in Europe next season.
Asked about his star man’s future, McKenna said: “Liam’s looking at his options for next year, which I think he’s entitled to do, and we support him with that.
“So, yes, we’ve given him the permission to do that this week.
“It’s a very important decision for his future. Of course, there’s a lot of interest and rightly so. So that’s been part of his week, he’s been having some of those conversations.
“It looks, I think more likely than not, that he’ll move on this summer. He has interest from pretty much every club in the league. I don’t think there’s many clubs in the world who wouldn’t want to have him. So I think it’s more likely than not that he’ll move on.
“Of course, nothing’s sorted, nothing’s done or completed or even I think very, very, very close. That process will take its course.
“We’ll, of course, be proud of the part that we’ve had in terms of Liam’s development and his contribution this season.
“If he stays with us, we’ll be delighted. If he does move on this summer, then it will be a positive sign for the club, a positive step for the club, to have developed and sold a player at that sort of level. Hopefully, it will be a good move for him.”
Asked if he’ll advise Delap on where he thinks he should go, McKenna replied: “Yeah, though that had to stay private. I’ve spoken to Liam and he knows that I’ll always try and help him anywhere possible.
“He has a fantastic relationship with the other staff here and other people around the club. He knows that we’re here to support him and help him and guide him as we have done from the first day.”
