Ipswich have unearthed an “incredible” new £58m+ superstar in the making

They might still be without a win to their name in the Premier League, but Ipswich Town are fighting tooth and nail to avoid the drop.

Kieran McKenna’s men have only lost five games so far and have managed to draw the other five, which is made all the more impressive when you consider that they have already played Liverpool, Manchester City, Brighton & Hove Albion and Aston Villa.

However, with the second-worst defence in the league, if the Tractor Boys stay up this season, it’ll be largely down to their attacking stars, including one who’s won comparisons to one of the most exciting and expensive forwards in the league.

Ipswich’s top goalscorers

Now, before we get to the attacking talent in question, let’s look at the club’s top goalscorers over the last two seasons, as it was largely thanks to their exploits that the Suffolk side is in the top flight today.

In the club’s first promotion campaign in 22/23, former Barnsley ace Conor Chaplin led the goalscoring charts, as he ended up with a ridiculous tally of 26 goals in 45 League One appearances.

That means the Worthing-born star averaged a goal every 1.73 games in the league, which probably helps to explain how the Tractor Boys went from midtable to automatic promotion within the space of a year.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, it was the 27-year-old who once again topped the goalscoring charts for the club the following season, racking up 13 in 44 Championship games, although he had to share top-spot with Nathan Broadhead.

In fact, while the Welsh international scored just as many goals as the Englishman, he did it in just 38 games, meaning he ended the campaign with an average of a goal every 2.92 games to Chaplin’s 3.38.

It looks like Ipswich will have a new top scorer this season, someone who could become an incredibly valuable asset.

Ipswich’s top scorer in 24/25

So, when it comes to the Ipswich attacker who could end up as the team’s top scorer this season, there is really only one answer, at least based on what we have already seen, and it’s Liam Delap.

The “incredible” marksman, as dubbed by Pep Guardiola of all people, has already scored five goals in ten league appearances for Mckenna’s side, and he’s looked every bit a top-flight centre-forward so far.

In fact, he’s even been compared to one of the most exciting up-and-coming strikers in the league, Manchester United’s Rasmus Hojlund.

The comparison stems from FBref, which looks at players in similar positions across Europe’s top five leagues before creating a ten-man list of the most comparable players, and in this case, it considers the Danish international to be the sixth most similar centre-forward to the Englishman.

You can get a better understanding of where they are coming from by looking at the underlying numbers they flag as being the most similar between the two players, metrics such as but not limited to non-penalty expected goals plus assists, progressive passes and progressive passes received, goals per shot, goal-creating actions, attempted take-ons, carries, ball recoveries and aerial duels won, all per 90.

Away from the statistical side of things, you can also see their similarities in the way both players use their physical stature to help them get into or exploit goalscoring opportunities before rifling off a shot.

Ultimately, it’s not a bad comparison to have, as not only did the Dane score 16 goals in his first season of English football last year, but he also has a lofty valuation of €70m – £58m – from Fotmob.

So, if he’s worth that much now, there is no reason to think Delap couldn’t be worth as much, if not more, in the years to come, especially if he continues to score at the rate he is now.