Newcastle ready to hijack Man Utd and Chelsea’s move for Liam Delap as £30million transfer release clause becomes active
NEWCASTLE UNITED will attempt to persuade Liam Delap to snub Manchester United and Chelsea for them.
The 22-year-old striker has enjoyed a brilliant breakthrough campaign in the Premier League and has a host of top clubs chasing his services.
He will be available for just £30m next month when his relegation release clause becomes active at Ipswich Town and that will start a scramble for his services.
Delap and his representatives have already been given the green light to open discussions with interested clubs and have already begun assessing his options.
Sun Sport revealed a fortnight ago that Chelsea were confident they would bring the 12-goal ace to Stamford Bridge.
But Delap will not rush a decision and has also held face-to-face talks with Manchester United.
Newcastle, who accept they face a huge battle to land him, are now due to outline their plans for him in order to convince him to snub moves elsewhere over the coming days.
Eddie Howe is desperate to strengthen his striking options with Callum Wilson, 33, looking set to depart once his contract expires in June.
He hopes the Magpies will be in a position to offer Delap Champions League football while the club will be able to also match any financial packages on offer from their rivals.
Though the one stumbling block for Newcastle could be their 27-goal top scorer Alexander Isak.
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The Magpies plan to open talks with the Swede over a new-and-improved contract this summer and want him to remain their first-choice forward.
Both United and Chelsea have informed Delap that he will be their main man up top should he sign.
Now it is up to Newcastle to convince him that he can either complement Isak or that they could potentially play together or even share the workload rather than him merely playing back-up.
Meanwhile, Man Utd are in pole position for Wolves attacker Matheus Cunha.
But the Red Devils will still want a No9 if they miss out on Delap.
Sporting Lisbon’s Viktor Gyokeres and Victor Osimhen – on loan at Galatasaray from Napoli – are on the radar.