It’s been an interesting start to the Premier League season for Ipswich Town this year.
Before a ball was kicked, fans and pundits alike were fearful that the club would be in for an extraordinarily tough campaign, as just two years ago, they were still fighting to get out of League One.
However, we are now ten games into the season, and the good news is that Kieran McKenna’s side have only been on the losing side five times, but the bad news is that they are still without their first win.
It’s too early to say with any certainty whether Ipswich will be able to beat the drop come May, but with young stars like Liam Delap in the side, anything is possible.
1
Liverpool
2-0 Defeat
2
Manchester City
4-1 Defeat
3
Fulham
1-1 Draw
4
Brighton & Hove Albion
0-0 Draw
5
Southampton
1-1 Draw
6
Aston Villa
2-2 Draw
7
West Ham United
4-1 Defeat
8
Everton
2-0 Defeat
9
Brentford
4-3 Defeat
10
Leicester City
1-1 Draw
Moreover, the 21-year-old’s sensational form makes the club’s decision to sign him over another striker they were interested in this year look even better.
Liam Delap's form this season
Ipswich opted to hand Manchester City around £20m for Delap’s services in July and to say he’s proven to be an excellent signing in the months since would be an enormous understatement.
The Englishman has played in all ten league games for the Tractor Boys so far, and while he scored just once in his first five games, he now has five goals to his name.
This utterly brilliant form in front of goal means he currently has as many goals as far more established Premier League stars such as Ollie Watkins and Luis Diaz.
Moreover, with his brace against Aston Villa, which secured his side an unlikely point, he’s shown that big games are not an issue for him and that he does, in fact, have the mentality to make it at the highest level.
In all, signing Delap in the summer was a masterstroke from Ipswich, especially when they were supposedly interested in another striker who has looked entirely out of his depth in the top flight this season.
The failing striker Ipswich could've signed
Before Ipswich got their hands on Delap in July, they were linked to another striker who had just enjoyed a relatively successful six-month stint in the Premier League with Sheffield United: Ben Brereton Diaz.
Yes, following a disastrous switch to La Liga side Villarreal in the summer of 2023, which saw the Chile international fail to score a single goal in 20 appearances, he moved to the relegation-threatened Blades in January, where he proceeded to score six goals and provide one assist in 14 top-flight appearances.
Now, considering the “extraordinary” marksman, as dubbed by former manager Tony Mowbray, averaged a goal involvement every other game in the Premier League last season, the Blues’ interest in him made sense, but given how he’s played for Southampton so far this year, it’s safe to say they dodged a bullet.
Since his £7m move to St Mary’s, the former Blackburn Rovers star has failed to score a single goal for the club in eight appearances across the league and League Cup, and worse yet, the south coast side’s only win in the league so far this season came when he wasn’t in the squad.
Ultimately, the Stoke-on-Trent striker might still be a talented forward in a bad run of form, but as things stand, his transfer has to be considered a flop, and considering how well Delap has done at Portman Road, Ipswich undoubtedly made the correct decision over the summer.
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