The striker has been responsible for half of his struggling side's goals this term and on Sunday will be hoping to remind his old club of his ability

Ipswich Town may have the smallest wage bill in the Premier League but when it comes to convincing players to join them they can turn to one asset only available to them: a platinum-selling pop star. Ed Sheeran is the biggest personality to come out of Ipswich and even with his relentless touring schedule he still finds time to attend matches, as Ruben Amorim knows only too well. Last year the club's best-known fan and minority owner made himself available to seal one of their biggest deals.

"A local man, global superstar, sponsor of the football club, now a shareholder and now officially part of our recruitment team," CEO Mark Ashton said at a Soccerex conference. "In the summer we were trying to persuade one particular player to join the football club and realised very quickly that he was an Ed Sheeran fan. Ed jumped on a Zoom call with him at the training ground, hopefully that was a key part of getting the player across the line."

Ashton initially did not want to reveal the identity of the player in question but when asked how he was getting on at the club he responded: "Certainly scoring a few goals!" He could only have been talking about Liam Delap, who has contributed to half of Ipswich's goals this season and sparked genuine hope of the Tractor Boys surviving their first season back in the top flight for 22 years. The 21-year-old striker has had a stunning debut campaign in the Premier League, attracting the attention of its best clubs and leading to him being touted as the successor to Harry Kane for England.

And next up he faces the team where he began his career and who Ed Sheeran convinced him to leave in order to join Ipswich: Manchester City.

GettyGrowing up with Rogers & Palmer

Even before his brilliant solo equaliser against Aston Villa and his match-winning displays against Tottenham and Chelsea, the mere mention of the name Delap stirred emotions among fans of the Barclays era of the Premier League. Liam is the son of Rory Delap, Stoke City’s not-so-secret weapon known for his ridiculous ability to launch the ball from throw-ins.

After retiring Rory became a youth coach at Derby County and Liam joined him there before moving to City in 2019 at the age of 16 after being scouted by Joe Shields, City's head of academy recruitment who had also brought Jadon Sancho and Jamie Gittens to the club among a host of young talents who would go on to great things after leaving the City academy.

A look at the team sheet from an FA Youth Cup tie against Burnley – in which Delap scored the only goal – showcases the ridiculously talented young squad City had at the time, featuring Cole Palmer, Morgan Rogers, Taylor Harwood-Bellis and James McAtee. Delap was later promoted to the under-23 team despite still being 17, where he played with Romeo Lavia and under future Chelsea coach Enzo Maresca.

And as City have toiled during a nightmare season in which they have staged a pathetic defence of their Premier League title and flirted with an embarrassing exit from the Champions League, many have wondered whether or not they made a huge mistake in cashing in on their talented youngsters rather than promoting them to the first team.

AdvertisementGettyHigh praise from Pep

But while the likes of Lavia and Rogers never made a senior appearance for City, Delap did at least get a taste of the action in Pep Guardiola's side, albeit very briefly. Delap played a grand total of 180 minutes for the City first team, making two cameo appearances in the Premier League against Leicester City and Norwich City.

He scored in the only game he started in, against Bournemouth in the Carabao Cup in an empty Etihad Stadium due to Covid-19 restrictions. A year later he earned a penalty from which Raheem Sterling scored on the rebound in a 4-0 drubbing of Norwich City. That same season he found the net in an FA Cup win against Fulham only for the goal to be ruled offside.

Guardiola's comments after the Fulham game must have given Delap hope of more opportunities at the club as the coach said the teenager was "the type of striker we don’t have". The Catalan added: "He is a killer, a typical British striker, an incredible finisher. He has a special quality. He is a different type of striker."

GettyBlocked by injuries & Haaland

Delap might have gotten more opportunities that season, in which City often played without a centre-forward, had he not missed five months with an ankle injury. But his chances of making it at the club were dealt a brutal blow when City signed Erling Haaland that summer, prompting Delap to gain more senior experience on loan.

He first moved to Stoke where his father was assistant coach, although they only worked together for half a season. Delap spent the latter half of the campaign at Preston North End but it was not until he moved to Hull City last season that he really found his feet, scoring seven times in his first five months while playing off the right of the attack.

Disaster struck in January though when he injured his knee, missing the next three months. He scored one further goal to finish the campaign with eight strikes and he has already equalled that tally with Ipswich, playing as a centre-forward in Kieran McKenna's side.

Getty Images SportMaking his mark at Ipswich

Delap has adapted seamlessly to the new role, becoming the focal point of an Ipswich side that failed to win any of their first 10 games of the season but then won three of their next nine, with Delap helping them take down Chelsea and Tottenham.

The Ipswich boss explained: "He has evolved his game over the last 18 months. I think from when he came in for pre-season, we were surprised how good his back-to-goal game was. He filled out and his body has developed a lot in the last 12 months. He takes on information well and can apply things well, so I think it has been a pleasant surprise how high his learning capacity is, how he can implement things and how open he is to discussing his game and improving. They are good ingredients for a young player."

All-time Premier League top scorer Alan Shearer has also been impressed with Delap’s feats this season. “He’s gone toe-to-toe with some big-named players already this season and he likes a scrap and a fight and a battle and I don’t think there’s any harm in that,” he told Amazon Prime. “He's got a bit of everything can run the channels doesnt mind coming short doesnt mind coming head to head with centre halves most importantly he's got the goals to his name. And he's been out on loan; he's not had everything his way."