Ipswich Town striker Liam Delap has caught the attention of England’s biggest clubs ahead of the summer, and now, the Tractor Boys must find a way to replace him.
Ipswich suffered relegation to the Championship after just one season in the Premier League, but Liam Delap did everything in his power to keep them up.
The 22-year-old scored an impressive 12 goals in 37 appearances for Kieran McKenna’s side, including strikes against Tottenham, Chelsea and Aston Villa.
Chelsea have now emerged as favourites to sign Delap, according to the Guardian, and it seems he will leave Portman Road sooner rather than later.
So, with that said, here are three strikers Ipswich should consider to replace him.
Photo by Catherine Ivill - AMA/Getty Images
Photo by Catherine Ivill – AMA/Getty Images
Richard Kone
Delap has a £30 million release clause in his contract following relegation, and McKenna will surely be handed some funds to replace him.
In March, we exclusively revealed that Ipswich were chasing Richard Kone alongside a raft of other clubs, and he’s someone they should consider looking at.
The departure of the lethal striker will leave a void in terms of sheer pace and physicality in their front line, but during his time at Wycombe Wanderers, Kone has possessed those two attributes in abundance.
The Ivorian was named the League One Player of the Year in 2024/25 after scoring 18 goals in the third tier. Now, following his side’s failure in the play-offs, he could be heading for the Championship.
Wycombe rejected a £6 million bid from Luton Town for Kone in January, so perhaps Ipswich offering around that total could see him join the club.
Lawrence Shankland
Although Delap possesses freakish strength and a turn of pace that is difficult for any defender to halt, if they’re looking at a lethal finisher in the box to fill his void, perhaps Lawrence Shankland could be their man.
We revealed last week that Southampton and Ipswich are watching Shankland closely after seeing him flourish for Hearts.
In his previous three seasons for the Scottish giants, he’s scored a whopping 68 goals, highlighting his clinical edge in the box.
Encouragingly, the 29-year-old is also available on a free transfer this summer, and he could be worth snapping up. After all, he does have 215 career goals to his name, so he knows where the net is.
Elijah Adebayo
Delap brought high levels of physicality and ferocious pressing to the forward line, something Elijah Adebayo has done throughout his career at Luton Town.
After Luton suffered relegation to League One, it seems inevitable that Adebayo exits the club, presenting Ipswich with an opportunity to pounce.
Last season was admittedly one to forget for the 27-year-old, who found the net just five times, though in the Premier League he reached double figures with 10 goals.
With a relentless ability to win aerial duels and outmuscle defenders with his strength, surely Adebayo is someone Ipswich should be looking at once Delap leaves.