Delap responds as star Guardiola let go is told he'd be Utd's perfect signing

Liam Delap has played down suggestions of a transfer to Manchester United despite being told he’s their “ideal” signing.Delap, 22, has enjoyed a stellar breakthrough season with Ipswich Town after leaving boyhood club Manchester City for around £20million last summer. His displays for the newly-promoted side have seen him notch 10 goals and two assists in 24 Premier League matches.

That has unsurprisingly led to some interest from big clubs, including United, with reports suggesting Ruben Amorim has made the English youngster a summer transfer target. That’s despite rivals City having a £29.5m buy-back option for the striker.

In light of the recent speculation surrounding Delap’s future, former Red Devils defender Paul Parker has now sung his praises, insisting that he would massively improve United’s current misfiring forward line.

Addressing United’s reported interest, Parker told Betfred Sports: “You could say that Liam Delap is an ideal forward to play for Manchester United, which is easy to say because Manchester United doesn’t have a centre-forward at this moment in time, so Liam Delap would make a massive difference.

“He can take the ball down, fight people off, doesn’t go down easy and he makes those unselfish runs in behind. He would be absolutely perfect for Manchester United and a lot of other teams in the Premier League.”

However, the England U21s star has played coy regarding United’s interest, instead stating that he is “so happy” at Portman Road. He told East Anglian Daily Times: "I'm so happy here, I'm enjoying it so much here. I just look forward to playing football. I take every game as it comes and focus on the next.

"It [the media speculation] is something that I try to stay away from. People around me have told me to stay away from it, it’s something that I’m very good at, focusing on what I want to do. That’s playing football here.

"I'm really enjoying my time here and I enjoy playing every week. That’s the most important thing. We know, as players and people, that there is noise. If we have a bad game and people are slating us for not performing or getting the right results, we stay focused on ourselves and what we have to achieve."

In contrast to Delap’s brilliant form, United strikers Joshua Zirkzee and Rasmus Hojlund - who cost a combined £107m - continue to disappoint this season. They have five league goals between them so far this campaign, with Amorim’s lack of firepower going some way to explaining United’s woeful league position down in 15th place.