Newcastle United transfer target Liam Delap is one of the most exciting young English forwards around.
Delap has emerged as perhaps the only bright spark for Ipswich Town this season, scoring 12 Premier League goals during what has been a fine breakout campaign.
Newcastle want to sign Delap this summer as a result. Indeed, the fact Delap now has a £30million release clause in his contract makes the 22-year-old all the more appealing.
Still, it seems England manager Thomas Tuchel isn’t overly impressed – at least not enough to include him in his squad.
At some point, the Three Lions will need a replacement for star striker Harry Kane. Whether that’s Delap or not remains to be seen but the younger generation will need to at least state their case.
Tuchel, however, didn’t include the 22-year-old in his England squad for their games against Andorra and Senegal in June. When pressed on the matter, the former Chelsea boss was rather brutal.
Thomas Tuchel’s brutal statement on Newcastle United transfer target Liam Delap
The German is only under contract until after the World Cup next summer, which perhaps explains why he isn’t overly concerned about what happens in the long-term future.
Indeed, Tuchel left Newcastle’s Tino Livramento out of his England squad and instead opted for the experience of Kyle Walker alongside the likes of Reece James and Trent Alexander-Arnold.
While the decision to select Ollie Watkins is logical given his success at Aston Villa, the fact former Newcastle youngster Ivan Toney was picked over Delap may have raised eyebrows.
Toney is playing for Al-Ahli in the Saudi Pro League, which is some level below the Premier League.
Still, when asked by The Daily Mail’s Newcastle correspondent Craig Hope about Delap, Tuchel said: “The fact is, he went down with Ipswich.”
How many goals has Ivan Toney scored in Saudi Arabia?
Newcastle were linked with re-signing Toney in 2024, before the striker made what is reportedly a lucrative move to Saudi Arabia.
The striker joined the Magpies back in 2015 but made only four senior appearances for the club before he was sold to Peterborough United in 2018. Toney thinks Newcastle didn’t give him a chance and there is some merit to that statement, given his lack of appearances.
| Games | Goals | Assists |
| 42 | 29 | 6 |
As expected, the 29-year-old is scoring a lot of goals in the Saudi Pro League. This season, he’s bagged 29 goals in 42 games while registering six assists.
Still, the fact he was selected over Delap does seem harsh given the difference in level between the two divisions.
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