Manchester City are “highly unlikely” to trigger their buyback option on Ipswich forward Liam Delap, according to the Manchester Evening News journalist Simon Bajkowski.

The newspaper’s chief City reporter believes that there is little to no chance that the Premier League champions would pay £40m to bring the 22-year-old back to the Etihad, less than a year after selling him for £20m.

Delap has been the subject of intense transfer speculation over the past few months, having impressed during his debut season at Ipswich.

Despite the Tractor Boys looking odds-on to be relegated back to the Championship, the England Under-21 international has still managed to score 12 goals.

Premier League rivals are willing to pay £30m for Delap

Another clause in the striker’s contract means that he can be bought by other teams for £10m less than City’s buyback option if Ipswich are relegated.

The £30m figure has attracted a lot of attention, and multiple reports have claimed that rivals Manchester United and Chelsea are leading the race for Delap’s signature.

City could still try to make a quick profit

One option open to Pep Guardiola’s side is to re-sign Delap for £40m and then look to sell him on for an even higher price. Ipswich would certainly be keen on that happening as they would receive £10m more.

However, getting the agreement of the player would be more difficult. His availability for such a low fee means he is expected to have a wealth of offers, which he may not get if he accepts a return to City.

Like with Cole Palmer, it does appears as if the Cityzens have made an error by selling one of their academy players for a rather meagre price. Fans will hope that the mistake isn’t repeated with James McAtee and Nico O’Reilly.

Find out who is in Manchester City’s first-team squad for the 2024/2025 season here