Manchester United reportedly came close to signing Liam Delap for just £30m this summer, but he ended up leaving for Chelsea.
Delap despised Man United in favor of a move to Stamford Bridge, so the Red Devils had to move on to other striker targets instead.
In the end, they were forced to pay significantly more for a new striker, signing Benjamin Sesco for a fee reported by BBC Sport to be £74 million.
According to the Daily Mail, there was previously a 90 per cent deal to sign Delap for less than half that amount, which would have given the club significant funds to sign a key midfield player.
How is this summer’s striker signing performing?
United will probably regret letting Delap go for the rest of their lives, but it’s a bit of a shame that he didn’t make a bigger impact during his time at Chelsea.
The 22-year-old has made just nine appearances for the Blues so far, scoring just one goal, and is currently out with a long-term injury.
However, Sesco hasn’t fared very well at United, scoring just two goals in his first eight games so far.
Take a look at how many of this summer’s most high-profile strikers signed have performed so far at their new clubs…
| contract with striker | game | the goal |
| Liam Delap (Chelsea) | 9 | 1 |
| Joao Pedro (Chelsea) | 12 | 5 |
| Benjamin Sesco (Manchester United) | 8 | 2 |
| Victor Gökeler (Arsenal) | 10 | 3 |
| Hugo Ekitike (Liverpool) | 10 | 5 |
| Alexander Isaac (Liverpool) | 6 | 1 |
| Nick Waltemaide (Newcastle) | 7 | 4 |
After spending a lot of money on a big center forward heading into this season, it will be interesting to monitor these numbers as the season progresses.
There are no particularly exciting players at the moment, but the likes of Erling Haaland and Harry Kane continue to show that they are among the best finishers in world football.
It’s hard to find quality of this quality on the market, but how different would things have been if United had been able to sign Delap and a top midfielder alongside him?