English musician and (in some cases) actor Ed Sheeran is such a big Ipswich fan that he has spent some of his £300 million fortune buying into the club. – Now he supports the club together with the other investors even if they were to be relegated to the Championship.
After an impressive losing streak, Ipswich Town are now below the red line in the Premier League with just 17 points after 29 games. – As always when a club is relegated, bigger clubs will be looking for goodies at a reasonable price. – So also in case Ipswich for Chelsea have looked for 22-year-old English striker Liam Delap.
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Chairman Mark Ashton now came out with a powerful message. Ipswich Town do not feel pressure to sell Liam Delap or other star players.
The Tractor Boys’ first season in the Premier League in over 20 years has not gone quite as planned. Despite significant investment in manager Kieran McKenna’s squad, it has not been enough to survive in the world’s richest league.
This is not surprising, as Ipswich played in League One just two seasons ago. The team from Suffolk has been the most competitive of the three newly promoted clubs this season, but with nine points clear of safety, it looks like they will be relegated back to the Championship.
Their undisputed star player this season has been Liam Delap, who joined from Manchester City last summer. The 22-year-old has scored 10 goals in the Premier League so far and put himself on the map for the top clubs.
Several of the division’s best teams are now chasing Delap before the upcoming transfer window. Chelsea see him as their main target and they are considered the favourites to sign him.
But Ipswich chairman Mark Ashton insists the club will not make it easy for others to bring in their players. Thanks to wealthy owners Gamechanger 20 Ltd and lifelong supporter Ed Sheeran, Ipswich doesn’t feel pressure to sell this summer.
When asked about Delaps’ future, Ashton told the East Anglian Daily Times:
“What has been reported is rarely quite true. It would be irresponsible of me to talk about individual players, you know I’m going to say that.
“What I can say is that in January there was interest in several of our players from several Premier League clubs. But the owners were clear: “You don’t have to sell.”
“We are not an easy club to buy players from, because we have such strong owners. Of course, there always comes a time when a player has to move on – that’s the cycle of life, the cycle of football. But we are very, very well protected when it comes to such things.
With Sheeran and other investors behind them, it seems Chelsea will have to make a staggering bid to sign Delap – which could threaten their other transfer plans this summer.
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