LIAM Delay continued his epic rise in the Premier League with a demolition job of Chelsea.
The 21-year-old was instrumental in leading Ipswich Town to a much-needed win over the Blues.
Delap got the Tractor Boys on their way by smashing home a first-half penalty.
The centre forward, who has been linked with a move to the West Londoners, then provided the assist for Omari Hutchinson to put the seal on a surprise 2-0 win.
That prompted Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca – who he saw first-hand playing for Man City’s youth side – to wax lyrical about Delap after the game.
He hailed the man of the match, saying: “Liam is a fantastic player, and also for his age.
“I think we spent one year together and he scored [about] 22 to 24 goals. He is a very good striker.
“England have many good players, many good strikers [but] he’s working hard off the ball and on the ball, understands the game and can score goals.
“I think he can be an important player for England.”
Ipswich Town parted with £20million to bring the ex-Cityzen youngster to Suffolk.
But that will be money well spent if his goals keep Kieran McKenna’s side in the top flight.
Delap has already managed seven goals in 18 league games, and was a handful for Ruben Amorim’s Man Utd side last month.
The 6ft1in centre forward, who was handed a Premier League debut by Pep Guardiola in 2020, was in two minds over joining Ipswich in the summer.
That was until minority owner Ed Sheeran got involved to get the transfer over the line.
And now Delap is being touted as Harry Kane’s successor for the striker role for England.
BBC Sport pundit Danny Murphy said: “I’ve seen him a bit quite a lot this season and I’d probably go as far as I say, for me, he the obvious long-term successor to Kane.
“I think he’s the best young English striker out there.
“I know he’s got a bit to learn and wisdom comes with experience and game time in this league.
“But he’s got all the attributes to be a top international player.”
It’s not often one of the biggest pop stars in the world has a hand in getting a transfer deal over the line.
However, when it’s Ipswich Town superfan Ed Sheeran, then it becomes more understandable.
When he’s not gatecrashing Sky Sports interviews with new Man Utd boss Amorim, the singer/songwriter is asking players to join the club he has shares in.
Back in the summer, Sheeran got on a Zoom call with Liam Delap and convinced the him his future belonged in East Anglia.
In a story told by the club’s CEO Mark Ashton at a Soccerex event, we learned: “A local man, global superstar, sponsor of the football club, now a shareholder and now officially part of our recruitment team.
“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.”
While Ashton remained coy on who the player was, he let the cat out of the bag when asked how the footballer was getting on this season.
He replied: “Certainly scoring a few goals!”
Football is in Delap’s blood. His dad Rory played for Stoke City, and Delap Jr appeared on the set of Soccer AM in 2014 alongside his father.
The former Stoke City and Ireland midfielder is best remembered for his insanely long throw-ins.
As a youth player, that was something that Liam also had in his arsenal.
However, when one parent took exception to the youngster’s long-throws he refused to take another throw again.
“I think he was put off when he was about an under-10!” Delap Sr. revealed in an interview with Radio Stoke.
“One of the parents shouted that he was ruining the game when he took a throw and he hasn’t taken one since.
“I don’t think that will be part of his game.”
However, one thing he has inherited from his dad’s game is aggression.
“(Aggression) always been a part of my game. I need it in my game,” he said in an interview with the Manchester Evening News.
“When I’m on that edge it’s when I’m at my best, it’s just not tipping over that edge and everyone has told me that they’d never want to take it out of me, it’s just controlling that final tipping point of what is acceptable and what’s not.
“You can’t really teach it, it’s just something I have and I’m so grateful that I’ve got it but it’s just now working a mechanism that I can control it to keep myself on the pitch.
“I’ve got a lot better. I was a lot worse when I was younger so I think it’s just maturing and understanding what’s right.”
A different type of player to his dad, blessed with power and pace, Liam is inspired by Cristiano Ronaldo.
“I’ve always looked up to Cristiano Ronaldo. Just the way he plays, the pace and the power.
“For me, he’s the best in the world so aspiring to someone who is the best in the world, your dreams just have to be high.
“Listening to people that he’s worked with, the extras and lengths that he goes to look after his body and get better every day just shows why he’s at the top level.
“You can have talent but talent on its own doesn’t work without effort.”
