Considering the wealth of talent Manchester City have at their disposal, they can afford to sell some of their youngsters and remain the team to beat in the Premier League.
Alan Shearer lauded Cole Palmer for leaving City after he scored four goals in Chelsea’s 4-2 victory against Brighton & Hove Albion.
Despite selling one of the best young players in Europe and one of the most in-form players in the Premier League last summer, City still managed to win the Premier League.
As a result, while witnessing Palmer’s genius in a Chelsea shirt could even sting the decision-makers at the Etihad Stadium, at the end of the day, their success last season and in recent years speaks for itself.
Apart from the Englishman, the likes of Morgan Rogers and Romeo Lavia have also made waves for other teams.
Rogers is starting to emerge as one of the hottest young talents in English football.
Schwarzer hails player Man City let go this summer
Lavia has only been held back by injuries at Chelsea but his impressive showing against Manchester City during his side’s 2-0 defeat earlier this campaign coupled with his terrific loan spell at Southampton are indicative of his class as a player.
It seems like Liam Delap is another youngster who has not let his exit from City hold his career back.
Instead, the 21-year-old continues to make a name for himself at Ipswich Town.
With his latest brace during Ipswich’s 2-2 draw against Aston Villa, Delap reached three league goals in six games this campaign.
The youngster’s strikes merit praise as well — opening the scoring by being positioned perfectly inside the box and then going on to embark on a run where he bamboozled Diego Carlos with a sumptuous piece of skill before scoring yet another goal with his weaker left foot,
The former Manchester City striker’s stunning strike from distance in Ipswich’s 1-1 draw against Fulham was another example of how talented a goalscorer he is.
Mark Schwarzer lauded Delap after his latest heroics on the weekend against Aston Villa.
On BBC Sport, the pundit said: “Villa struggled with Liam Delap. He bullied them all game and his run down the left side when he scored the second goal was excellent.”
Man City should keep a close eye on Liam Delap buy-back clause
In July, Fabrizio Romano reported that Manchester City have a buy-back clause in place for Delap.
As things stand, if the highly-rated marksman was to return to City, he would be a backup for Erling Haaland.
Whether Delap would be satisfied with such a role remains unlikely as he has become a regular starter in a Premier League side.
But regardless, Manchester City should monitor Delap’s progression and try their luck based on how he continues to fare at Ipswich.
It seems like the ex-Derby County number nine is only going to improve with more playing time in the English top-flight and he could prove to be the perfect replacement for Julian Alvarez.
