Manchester City expert Steven McInerney from Esteemed Kompany has talked up the threat of Ipswich Town striker Liam Delap ahead of the Citizens' trip to Portman Road in the Premier League on Sunday.
Delap was on the books at Man City for five years and excelled at academy level, scoring 35 goals in 36 games for the club's Under-21s, before gaining valuable senior experience on loan at Championship trio Stoke City, Preston North End and Hull City.
The 21-year-old made enough of an impression in the second tier to secure a permanent move to newly-promoted Ipswich last summer for a reported £15m rising to £20m, and he has since been a standout performer for Kieran McKenna's side in the Premier League.
Delap has scored a team-high eight goals in 20 top-flight appearances this season, including four at Portman Road where the Tractor Boys will welcome a defensively frail Man City side this weekend.
Pep Guardiola's side have kept just two clean sheets in their last 12 Premier League games and they most recently let a two-goal lead slip with less than 10 minutes remaining to draw 2-2 at Brentford on Tuesday night.
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'Delap's going to have a great time against Man City'
Although McInerney is confident that Man City will return to winning ways against an Ipswich outfit who remain inside the relegation zone after losing 2-0 at home to Brighton & Hove Albion on Thursday, he believes that Delap could haunt his former club in front of goal.
Speaking to Sports Mole, McInerney said: "Delap's going to have a great time. I think Ipswich will be very happy to sit back, even at their own ground and just try and hit [Omari] Hutchinson, [Sammie] Szmodics and Delap on the break.
"Man City are giving up chances this season. Delap is going to have a chance in this game. The story's already written. I know it's sort of cliched, but narratives tend to happen. I think people will it into existence. Delap will probably score, he probably will score. I'm expecting that, but I think City will win."
"Asked if Delap is the one Ispwich player Man City should fear, McInerney added: "Yeah, I think so. I think there's so much motivation there for him... Delap is just a bully, and unashamedly so. I think he's brilliant.
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'Man City will have to stop Delap'
"I've been watching him for an awful long time - pretty much saw every goal he scored when he was breaking records for the City's Under-23 side, EDS (Elite Development Squad), and I think he's absolutely destined for the top because he's a winner, he's an absolute winner, scared of absolutely no one, truly fearless.
"He will take great pleasure in battling [Nathan] Ake and [Manuel] Akanji. He'll take great pleasure in dropping deep and barging quite comfortably past [Mateo] Kovacic and Bernardo [Silva] in midfield.
"That's my worry there, because he's so good on the transition, so good at countering, he'll just run past people - it has to be Delap (that City fear the most).
"He's going to be a top-level player. He's going to join a big club one day, with all due respect to Ipswich, and he's going to be a Premier League striker for an awful long time, and score a lot of goals.
"City will have to stop him, because he's going to force chances by hook or by crook, he's going to force it."
Press play on the video at the top of this article to hear the full discussion ahead of Man City's trip to Ipswich.
Oliver Thomas
