He left in 2015: Ipswich loan flop is now outscoring both Delap & Lath.
As many feared, this season has been difficult for Ipswich Town. However, unlike previous promoted sides, Keiran McKenna’s Tractor Boys have put up a good fight in the most of their games, and while the weekend setback to Southampton was disappointing, there is still a real chance the club can stay up. If they manage to avoid relegation, it will be largely down to the spectacular exploits of striker extraordinaire Liam Delap, who has greatly exceeded the expectations of both fans and analysts this season.
However, even though the Englishman has been talismanic up top, he and Emmanuel Latte Lath, who was strongly touted for a move to Portman Road last month, are being drastically outscored by a former loan player who left the club in 2015.
Delap and Lath’s form this season
Ipswich opted to spend £20 million on Delapin in the summer, and while there was some risk in signing a young striker with little Premier League experience, he has subsequently rewarded them back handsomely.
For example, after just 24 appearances for the team, comprising 1795 minutes, the Winchester-born “super talent,” as Danny Mills described him, has nine goals and two assists. That means that in his first full season of top-flight football, the 21-year-old wonder is scoring one every 2.18 games, or every 163.18 minutes. However, given his significance to the team, it was unsurprising to see the Suffolk club connected with numerous other number nines during the winter window, including former Middlesbrough star Lath. This season, the Ivorian international scored 11 goals and provided three assists in 31 games for the Championship side, collecting 1791 minutes. which comes out to an average of a goal involvement every 2.21 games, or every 127.92 minutes.
Instead of staying in the second tier or heading to Ipswich, the 26-year-old made a surprise move to MLS club Atlanta United for a league-record sum of £17.5 million. While the Anoumabo Marcory-born marksman would have been a valuable addition to the squad, McKenna could benefit from a previous loanee who is now outscoring Lath and Delap.
Read more on sportupdates.co.uk
Leave a Reply