As much as a collective team effort is obviously at fault for Manchester United horribly underperforming this season just gone, their woes in attack certainly stick out as a major point of concern.
Rasmus Hojlund would only manage to bag a dire four goals in Premier League action for Ruben Amorim’s Red Devils, whilst another scapegoated striker in Joshua Zirkzee also blew hot and cold throughout the campaign when tallying up just three strikes himself.
Therefore, one summer priority must surely be to bring in a fresh sharpshooter, with Ipswich Town menace Liam Delap once on United’s ever-expanding shopping list subsequently.
Unfortunately for the 15th-placed underachievers, Delap has seemingly chosen Chelsea as his next onward destination over Old Trafford, leaving Amorim’s men to hunt elsewhere.
Man Utd make approach for Premier League striker
Staggeringly, United could get over the rejection of Delap by poaching one of Chelsea’s main strikers.
Indeed, a new report from Football Transfers suggests that United have made an approach for hit-and-miss Blues attacker Nicolas Jackson, with Red Devils technical director Jason Wilcox allegedly playing a big part in wanting to bring the ex-Villarreal man to Old Trafford due to his desire for an athletic centre-forward.
It is also stated further into the report that Chelsea are reluctant to negotiate a sale, but if Delap were to come in and make that starting spot his own, the £55m-rated striker might be potentially more swayed to move to the Theatre of Dreams.
If everything were to click into place for the inconsistent 23-year-old in his new potential location too, he could go down as an upgrade on the much-talked-about former Manchester City ace.
Why Jackson could be an upgrade on Delap
After all, Delap might well be the talk of the town at the moment by bagging 12 league strikes last season, but he’s only ever experienced that one solitary Premier League campaign across his fledgling career.
On the contrary, Jackson has been around for one season longer in the demanding English game, and despite missing a colossal 19 big chances during an up-and-down 2024/25, the Senegalese striker found himself only two shy of the 22-year-old’s total for the Tractor Boys with ten league goals.
Games played
35
30
Goals scored
14
10
Assists
5
5
Shots*
2.3
2.5
Shots on target*
1.4
1.2
Goal conversion %
18%
13%
Big chances missed
24
19
On top of that, the Blues’ number 15 also showed off his sometimes red-hot form in front of goal during his debut season, with a mightily impressive 17 goals and six assists coming his way across all competitions, away from his 13 strikes in Premier League action alone, just bettering Delap’s output.
It will just rest on whether Jackson can become even more clinical donning United red, but he would surely be chomping at the bit to prove any Stamford Bridge doubters wrong if a move is signed off on.
Of course, there is also surely a worry on Chelsea’s end that Delap’s heroics for Ipswich are just a lightning in a bottle moment, with the bright lights of a new West London environment perhaps working against the potent Tractor Boys number 19.
United will just be praying the “unbelievable” attacker, as he’s been labelled glowingly in the past by pundit Peter Crouch, can hit his stride making the switch up North, making their failed attempts to land the £30m target less painful in the process.
If he manages to come out of his bumpy stint at Stamford Bridge stronger for it, he could be just what United are searching forward to head into a hopeful, new era under Amorim.
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