Leeds United must jump at the chance to sign up-for-sale Man City star: View | OneFootball

Liam Delap was regarded as a very highly-rated prospect at Manchester City not so long ago.

Having established himself as a real force in City's academy and performed for England at a youth international level, he looked set to be one of the view academy graduates who was going to be able to make a major first-team impact.

However, he is yet to make a major impression for the senior side at the Etihad Stadium, being sent out on a series of loans in recent years instead, most recently spending time at Hull City.

Delap did fairly well at the MKM Stadium and impressed on numerous occasions, including against eventual champions Leicester City during the early stages of the campaign.

An injury limited his impact in East Yorkshire, but he still did enough to put himself in the shop window and it looks as though he will be moving on in the coming months.

According to Alan Nixon, Delap will be allowed to leave Pep Guardiola's side permanently this summer due to the club's Financial Fair Play issues.

He could cost around £10 million to recruit, with City potentially including a buy-back clause, according to The Sun.

Leeds United should target permanent Liam Delap move

Leeds United are another team that may need to keep an eye on their FFP situation following their failure to secure promotion back to the Premier League at the first time of asking.

But they do need to take a closer look at their striker department, with Georginio Rutter now playing as a number 10 and Joel Piroe also playing in that role at times during the 2023/24 campaign.

They do have some decent options up top, with Piroe playing as a striker more recently and Patrick Bamford remaining at the club.

Mateo Joseph is also emerging as a good asset for the Whites, with his brace against Chelsea in the FA Cup back in February potentially a sign of things to come from the promising young forward.

Joe Gelhardt, however, looks to be a strong candidate to leave Elland Road, potentially along with Bamford.

Journalist Graeme Bailey isn't ruling out an exit for the latter and if the Englishman does leave, a new striker would definitely need to be recruited.

Delap could be the ideal candidate to replace Bamford, with the former only 21 at this stage but having plenty of Championship experience under his belt already.

Because of this experience and his age, the Man City player should only get better and that will give Leeds a potential opportunity to sell him for a decent profit in the future.

City seemingly need to offload him, so he could potentially be available for less than £10m and that's an opportunity that Leeds can't shy away from if they can potentially strike a deal.

The Whites may not be able to offer him a start every week, but the good thing about Delap is the fact he can also operate out wide if required, with his goal against Leicester during the early stages of the 2023/24 season showing that he can cut in from the right and be a lethal asset from the wing.

It has to be said that Bamford and Piroe didn't enjoy the best season at Elland Road too, so having Delap as a competitor for a starting spot should only help to maximise performance levels.

Performance levels will need to be high if Leeds are to return to the top flight, so he could be a game-changing signing.

And even if they fail in this quest to get back to the top level, a club could be willing to pay Leeds a decent amount for Delap in the future, so this is a potential signing worth considering for on-field and off-field reasons.

How Leeds United could fund Liam Delap move

It has been reported by the Daily Mail that Leeds may need to generate up to £100m in player sales this summer, after their play-off final defeat.

But football finance expert Kieran Maguire provided a slightly more positive outlook for the Whites - and that could give fans hope that there will be a decent summer transfer budget if some key players move on.

Some of their players could generate a huge amount of sale revenue, with Crysencio Summerville tearing the league apart last term and Willy Gnonto still young enough to generate a big fee.

Archie Gray could also be sold for at least £40m, so a move for Delap could be funded by sales.

Staying within financial limits has to be a key priority for Leeds this term, so selling players could be key to recruiting Delap if they wish to pursue the Man City player.

They should definitely consider it.