The Athletic FC: Striker transfer saga of the summer, Yamal’s Da Vinci comparison

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Hello! It’s beer o’clock for Daniel Farke in Leeds. And decision time for Liam Delap in Ipswich.

Coming up:

💰 EPL’s most wanted striker

🎨 Why Yamal is like Da Vinci

🎉 Leeds paint the town white

👀 Victory… with no shots on goal

Striker match: Why Delap is set for move to a Premier League heavyweight 

(Oli Scarff/AFP via Getty Images)

Yours for £30million ($40m) when the next transfer window opens: a rising star who accounts for a third of his club’s goals in the Premier League this season, and whose age and skill set has clubs climbing over each other to sign him.

Too good to be true? It should be, but familiarise yourself with Liam Delap — because he’s the Premier League’s most in-demand forward and a 22-year-old who, in a matter of weeks, will have the luxury of picking from a range of offers. One year in England’s top division is all it has taken to make him movie of the week.

It’s a little ironic because Delap has just been relegated with Ipswich Town. Ipswich’s form is such that you doubt whether any established Premier League side would look to cherry-pick another name from their squad, but everybody wants Delap, or so it seems. Chelsea and Manchester United are right at the front of the queue. And here’s why…

£30m is… cheap

First of all, Delap is cheap, or relatively so. A relegation release clause in his Ipswich contract will allow him to exit Portman Road for around £30m, far less than he is worth. The clause was a makeweight when Ipswich bought him for £15m last summer. They were taking a gifted academy product from Manchester City and as a newly promoted club, the risk of relegation was high. Delap would have had no intention of playing in the Championship. Ipswich had to give him a safety net.

Secondly, Delap is tailor-made for the Premier League — no surprise, really, considering he’s cut from the cloth of City’s development ranks. His off-the-ball runs, especially those in behind defences, are exceptionally clever. He’s accrued 12 goals in a year when Ipswich have only bagged 35, raising his stock as those of players around him fell. If only there were several of him to go round.

… but what about clubs who can’t get him?

Needless to say, there is only one Delap, which means most of his suitors will watch him go by them. This analysis from Mark Carey and Thom Harris, then, might be instructive in predicting other close-season transfers — because they’ve picked out alternative forwards with similar traits to Delap.

Here’s a few of the names they came up with:

• Jonathan David (Lille). This is David’s moment. He’s 25, he’s a free agent as of July 1, he’s naturally two-footed and he’s been touted for a big move for ages now.
• Emanuel Emegha (Strasbourg). Another player who is based in France’s Ligue 1. Certain metrics rank him as the fastest centre-forward in Europe. He’s also the same age as Delap, at 22.
• Santiago Castro (Bologna). Joshua Zirkzee’s move to Manchester United helped to make way for Castro at Bologna. He’s only 20 and he’s raw. But if he’s destined for big things, this is the time to invest in him at a low cost.

The smartest recruitment departments hedge their bets like this, by identifying both first choices and contingencies. Where Delap is concerned, contingencies will be necessary because while so many teams covet him, all but one is going to be disappointed.

News round-up

End of 33-year wait: Leeds finally get their promotion party — and make the most of it

(Getty Images)

Daniel Farke wasn’t kidding when he said he would celebrate Leeds United’s promotion like a “feierbiest”. He played the part of the DJ (our top GIF today, in more ways than one) as hundreds of thousands packed the streets for the club’s Championship title parade. Somebody check on captain Ethan Ampadu, please. He was a little worse for wear.

And with good reason. Leeds haven’t had the pleasure of an open-top bus rampage since they claimed the top-flight title in 1992, the year when Division One was rebranded as the Premier League. Though they topped the Championship in 2019-20, that coincided with the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. The clutch of fans who turned out to celebrate broke isolation rules by doing so.

As a city, Leeds has soul. It’s a little hard to define precisely, except to say that something about Leeds is distinctly Leeds, if that makes sense. Yesterday’s outpouring proved one thing about the club: their crowd can be ruthless in holding feet to the fire and demanding high standards (standards many people have failed to meet over the years). But please them and they’ll love you for it. And they won’t forget.

Close call: ‘Unexplainable’ Yamal and Barca or underrated Inter?

But for the slimmest of offsides (poor Henrikh Mkhitaryan, above), Inter would be taking a 4-3 lead into the second leg of their Champions League semi-final against Barcelona tonight. Nonetheless, Barca will have to crack a supreme home record to knock Simone Inzaghi’s team out. Inter are on a 15-game unbeaten European streak at San Siro.

The huge boost for Hansi Flick is that Robert Lewandowski is fit. And it won’t help Inter if their captain, Lautaro Martinez, fails to recover from a muscular problem. He’s touch and go. All that before we even mention the baby-faced force of nature that is Lamine Yamal.

I loved this feature on Yamal today, looking at him through the eyes of various people in the game. This quote from Luka Modric’s old junior coach on the 17-year-old’s genius is brilliant: “Let’s say I give you the same paint, brushes and paper as Leonardo da Vinci when he painted the Mona Lisa. And I tell you: ‘OK, you have the same equipment — do it’. Nobody will. It is unexplainable to have that level of talent.”

There’s a quality preview of the Champions League’s last four waiting for you on the Totally Football Show. Like me, and despite Yamal, they think Inter’s chances are underrated. Fill your boots on YouTube and get ready for fireworks later.

Catch the match

(Selected game, times ET/UK)

Champions League semi-final second leg: Inter (3) vs Barcelona (3), 3pm/8pm — CBS, Paramount+, Fubo/Amazon Prime.

Trent debate: Was Alexander-Arnold right to leave Liverpool on a free transfer?

A little more on Trent Alexander-Arnold after yesterday’s news (or worst-kept secret) that he’s packing up and quitting Liverpool.

His exit on a free transfer was bound to be contentious, but I did wonder if Liverpool collecting the Premier League title would make attitudes towards Alexander-Arnold’s defection more sympathetic or philosophical. On the contrary, there’s a lot of vitriol out there, the mood bitter and twisted.

It’s what happens when competing interests collide. Alexander-Arnold is entitled to shape his own career and he’ll do well out of Real Madrid. Liverpool’s supporters are entitled to feel how they feel. Loyalty is a strange concept, in the sense that players, clubs and crowds are incredibly subjective in deciding when to uphold it where football is concerned. It was ever thus — and always will be.

🖱️ Most clicked in Monday’s TAFC: The inside story of TAA’s Anfield departure.

And finally…

(Apple TV)

LA Galaxy, the MLS Cup holders, are bottom of the Western Conference with no wins from 11 games. It begs the question: are things about to get better?

I’m saying no because on Sunday night, they managed to lose 1-0 to Sporting Kansas without conceding a shot on target. They didn’t allow a shot on goal, period, but still conceded when Maya Yoshida turned a first-half cross into his own net (above).

It’s never happened before in MLS history and it’s grim. How much longer can the Galaxy go on like this?

(Top photo: Richard Pelham/Getty Images)

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