Manchester City are struggling at the moment and arguably, there is an overreliance on Erling Haaland to score the goals.
Manchester City lost for the fourth straight match on Saturday, losing to Brighton in the Premier League.
A lot of the focus has been on Pep Guardiola’s side’s defensive struggles. The loss of Rodri is proving huge, and a number of players are not in good form at the moment.
But City also have problems at the other end.
Haaland scored against Brighton to take his tally to 15 for the season. But goals from other players have been scarce, with the likes of Phil Foden and Savinho failing to score in the Premier League this season.
City sold Julian Alvarez for big money in the summer, and few could really blame the club for ashing in for over £80 million.
One other player who was sold was Liam Delap, a player who now really looks to be coming good for Ipswich Town since leaving City.
Former Man City gem Liam Delap fires Ipswich Town to first Premier League win
In the summer, City decided to cash in on striker Liam Delap, who had been at the club since the age of six.
Delap had a number of loan spells away from City, including at Stoke City, Preston North End and Hull City.
Delap did have a few first-team chances along the way at City. He played six times under Guardiola. In the end though, the decision was taken to sell Delap.
Delap is perhaps already starting to make a few people at City uncomfortable.
Today, Delap scored for Ipswich in their game against Tottenham Hotspur. It was a tap-in, but that was his sixth for the club in just 12 appearances.
Delap also provided the assist for Ipswich’s first goal scored by Sammie Szmodicz.
It is a huge win for the Tractor Boys, and their first of the season since their promotion. Certainly, Delap played his part down at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
How much did Man City sell Liam Delap to Ipswich for?
Man City struck a deal with Ipswich to sell Liam Delap for an initial £15 million. But the deal could reach as much as £20 million through add-ons (via The Athletic).
City had also agreed similar terms with Southampton, but Ipswich were the player’s choice.
It is understood that City also hold a 20% sell-on clause over Delap for the next transfer move he makes away from Ipswich (via Sky Sports).
| Man City U23s | Man City | Stoke | Preston | Hull | Ipswich |
| Appearances – 36 | Appearances – 6 | Appearances – 23 | Appearances – 15 | Appearances – 32 | Appearances – 12 |
| Goals – 35 | Goals – 1 | Goals – 3 | Goals – 1 | Goals – 8 | Goals – 6 |
Delap hitting his sixth goal in just 11 appearances for Ipswich could well have some City officials feeling slightly regretful.
Because currently, City fans are seeing Haaland score most of the goals. With Alvarez having left, there haven’t really been any other regular scorers.
Potentially, given Delap’s age, he would have been a perfect player to operate as the understudy to Haaland. But seemingly, it just wasn’t a gamble Guardiola was prepared to take.
It was claimed recently that City were interested in re-signing Delap, but it remains to be seen if that’s a route the club wants to go down.
