Manchester United used to set the benchmark for great strikers. Wayne Rooney, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Eric Cantona, Andy Cole, Dwight Yorke, Robin van Persie -- it's a long list of formidable goal scorers, but one that is now a fading memory obscured by a succession of expensive misfits who have tried and failed to join that elite list in recent years.

At 22, it would be a big challenge for Liam Delap to prove himself a worthy successor to some of Old Trafford's most iconic centre-forwards, but the Ipswich Town striker is the club's favoured summer target because he has the potential to do so.

Sources have told ESPN that United have placed Delap, who could be available for a transfer fee of 40 million if Ipswich are relegated this summer, ahead of Sporting CP's Viktor Gyökeres, RB Leipzig's Benjamin Sesko and Victor Osimhen, who is on loan at Galatasaray from Napoli, in their list of potential attacking reinforcements.

In his first full campaign in the Premier League this season, Delap has scored 12 goals in 30 appearances for an Ipswich team playing in the top-flight for the first time since 2002. He has shown pace, physical presence and the ability lead the attacking line and Kieran McKenna's team have also benefited from Delap being able to hold the ball up and provide a platform for Ipswich's midfielders and wingers, as well as displaying the alternative skillset of turning his marker and creating his own efforts on goal.

Delap's attributes bear similarities to those of a young Alan Shearer, who remains the Premier League's all-time leading goal scorer with 260 goals for Blackburn and Newcastle. And, with United and Chelsea now emerging as rivals for Delap's signature this summer, Shearer said last week that the former Manchester City youngster has what it takes to make it to the top.

"Big clubs will be looking at him [Delap], because I think he's got something about him," Shearer told Betfair. "He's got an arrogance about him, which I really like and he's got an aura. He's already been linked with a number of clubs in the Premier League and looking at who he's been linked with, I think he can go in and command a starting role. He's better than anything Man Utd have got up front. He's also better than anything Chelsea have got up front, so the answer is simple - yes, he would start for those clubs."

United's track record of signing strikers since Sir Alex Ferguson persuaded Arsenal to offload Van Persie in a 24m transfer in August 2012 has been abject, with the club lurching from short-term signings -- Radamel Falcao, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Cristiano Ronaldo, Edinson Cavani -- to inexperienced youngsters including Anthony Martial [who is now at AEK Athens], Rasmus Højlund and Joshua Zirkzee. Panic January loan moves have also resulted in deals for Odion Ighalo and Wout Weghorst.

Aside from the 75m signing of Romelu Lukaku from Everton in July 2017, United have not acquired a forward at his peak since Van Persie. Lukaku's return of 42 goals in 96 appearances now looks exceptional as the years have passed, but the Belgium forward was moved on by the club after two seasons and they have made mistake after mistake ever since.

This is why the summer's striker pursuit is so crucial. If United are to once again challenge for the major trophies, they must sign a reliable goal scorer.

Having scored just 37 goals in 31 league games so far this season -- Sunday's 0-0 draw against City at Old Trafford was the 12th time United failed to score in a Premier League game during this campaign -- United will set a new record for their lowest goals tally in the Premier League era by eclipsing the existing low of 54 goals in the 2016-17 if they fail to score at least 17 goals in their remaining seven fixtures.

Højlund, a 64m signing from Atalanta in August 2023, has scored three league goals this season and registered only one goal in his last 24 games all competitions, while Zirkzee has also netted three league goals since arriving from Bologna in a 36.5m transfer last summer.

United's lack of attacking threat was identified by the club's scouting team, headed by technical director Jason Wilcox, who brought Delap through the City Academy, and director of recruitment Christopher Vivell, prior to Amorim's arrival in place of the sacked Erik ten Hag last November.

With a lack of available options during the January transfer window and a need to reduce the wage bill, the club focused on offloading out-of-favour forwards Marcus Rashford and Antony on loan deals to Aston Villa and Real Betis respectively -- a decision which has left Amorim's squad since desperately short of attacking options.

But sources have told ESPN that the signing of a new striker, preferably Delap, coupled with the return to fitness of winger Amad Diallo and development of 17-year-old striker Chido Obi (who signed on a free transfer from Arsenal), will give the team the cutting edge it has lacked.

With a 100m release clause in Gyökeres' contract at Sporting, the cost of pursuing the 26-year-old is regarded as prohibitive by United. He was a crucial figure in Sporting's title success in Portugal under Amorim last season, scoring 50 goals in all competitions and backing it up with 43 goals so far this season, but the potential fee and a poor track record of strikers moving from the Portuguese league to the Premier League -- United abandoned interest in Darwin Núñez for the same reason when he left Benfica for a 75m move to Liverpool in 2022 -- has diminished interest in the Sweden international.

Amorim rates him highly, but with the fee, concerns over his ability to succeed in England and likely interest from Champions League clubs, Gyökeres is not a priority target. Similar doubts over cost and Premier League compatibility also hang over Sesko and Osimhen.

But Gyökeres' attributes, which are almost identical to Delap's, underscore the profile of what Amorim wants from his centre-forward in his favoured 3-4-3 formation and neither Højlund or Zirkzee meet the coach's requirements.

Amorim wants a physical presence, but also a striker with the ability to escape his marker and hold the ball up, depending on circumstances. Delap fits the bill and would cost half of what Sporting would expect for Gyökeres.

United want long-term value and an instant impact. It is a difficult balance to strike, as they have repeatedly discovered to their cost. But right now, Delap is showing that he could offer both.