Liam Delap is a wanted man this summer, but the young striker has been told to stay at Manchester City for the time being.
The 19-year-old burst onto the first-team scene in 2020 when he scored on his senior City debut in a Carabao Cup win against Bournemouth. Since then he has made five more appearances for Pep Guardiola's side, but a string of injuries last season prevented him from staking a claim for more minutes.
The former Derby County youth player was part of City's pre-season tour of the US this summer along with fellow U23s stars Cole Palmer and James McAtee, but with City adding both Erling Haaland and Julian Alvarez to their striking department this summer, the youngster could find minutes at the Etihad hard to come by.
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Last week City rejected a £16m bid for Delap from Southampton, who have already signed youngsters Romeo Lavia and Gavin Bazunu from the club this summer.
The Blues are open to loaning out Delap for the 2022/23 season but are reluctant to let him go on a permanent basis. The opportunity to go out on loan and play regular football might be a tempting one, but according to Paul Robinson, it is one that Delap would be better off turning down.
"As a youngster at Man City, you know what you are in for," Robinson told Football Insider. "He got minutes on the pitch last year. Delap is a player with real potential who I believe can break into the first team. I think he’ll get more game time than last year if he stays.
"It is up to him though as to whether he needs football week in, week out now. I don’t think now is the time to be knocking on doors asking to leave the club. He should hold off."
Delap signed a three-year contract extension last summer, meaning that his current terms at City last until 2026.
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