'He didn't say f*** off' - Hallgrimsson happy to 'wait and see' after Delap talks

The Ipswich striker is currently with England's U21s.

FORWARD THINKING: Ireland head coach Heimir Hallgrimsson speaks to the media during a Republic of Ireland squad update and press conference at FAI Headquarters in Abbotstown, Dublin. Photo by Shauna Clinton/Sportsfile

Chelsea’s €40m target Liam Delap has held talks with Ireland manager Heimir Hallgrimsson about his international allegiances.

Delap has represented his native England up to U21 level but the FAI have maintained interest as he’s eligible through both maternal and paternal grandparents.

Hallgrimsson admitted in October he’d delegated dealings to his assistant John O’Shea – who’d worked with Delap during his loan spell at Stoke City – but the Icelander has now met the player face-to-face.

Also present at the meeting was Delap’s father Rory, who won 11 caps for Ireland and is currently assistant to Ireland’s record caps holder Robbie Keane at Hungarian champions Ferencvaros.

Although it appears England are in pole position to retain the Ipswich Town striker, he’s free to switch until the Three Lions cap the 22-year-old in a competitive senior international.

That won’t happen until at least September after Thomas Tuchel opted against drafting Delap in for the June double-header to allow him to remain with Lee Carsley’s Euro U21s champions.

"We have sat with him, yeah,” admitted Hallgrimsson after finalising his squad for the June friendlies against Senegal on Friday week and Luxembourg four days later.

“We just told him we would love to have him in our camp. Liam has good qualities and everybody knows that. His father played for the Republic.

“Obviously we are always hoping the good players will join us. He is now in the England under-21 squad for their Euros finals.

"That is his focus at the moment. What will happen after that we will have to wait and see."

When asked to confirm if Delap remains interested in joining the Boys in Green cause, the Ireland boss took a direct interpretation of their discussion.

"Well, he didn't say fuck off," he said with a smile. 

Ipswich boss Kieran McKenna has allowed his star striker to open negotiations with suitors due to his €36m release clause.

He scored 12 goals in 37 league appearances for a relegated Tractor Boys side that features an Irish presence in Dara O’Shea, Jack Taylor, Sammie Szmodics and Chiedozie Ogbene.

Hallgrimsson isn’t overly concerned about their relegation culling the volume of top-flight minutes his players are exposed to.

The FAI have painted a bleak picture in their sales pitch to the government for academy funding, arguing 35 players operating across the top five leagues in Europe are a minimum to assemble a successful Ireland team.

Once this double-header is completed, Ireland are straight into a blitz of six World Cup qualifiers against Portugal, Hungary and Armenia from September 6 to November 16. Failure to reach USA next year would prolong Ireland’s tournament famine to the longest stretch since their qualification breakthrough At Euro ‘88.

“I think we have the material to qualify, sure,” said the manager who guided Iceland and Jamaica to major tournaments.

“I have, from experience, qualified with less talent than we have here in this Ireland squad. Obviously, we would like more players to play at a higher level and I think more players will. They're still not peaking in age.

“I think the players that got promoted, the likes of Josh Cullen will play, more or less, every minute for Burnley in the Premier League.

“For those relegated, it wasn’t that they were that bad – and some like Sammie and Chieo were injured – but Dara O'Shea played really well.

“Ryan Manning did well for Southampton and Kasey McAteer is playing every minute for Leicester City. The quality is there for sure.

“We like to have players playing at the highest level but I would rather have players playing in the Championship than being on the bench.” 

That criteria would seem to apply in the case of Evan Ferguson. Although he provided winning goals in two of the manager’s four victories against Finland and Bulgaria, he endured a disastrous club campaign. A loan move from Brighton and Hove Albion to West Ham United didn’t improve the outlook and he may have to drop into the second tier to regain the sharpness he exuded from his teens.

“I can only judge from the time he's with us and he's been good for us, very efficient,” stressed Hallgrimsson.

“Whatever he goes, it's not something we cannot control. We haven't seen him since March, so we just want to see and speak to him, see what's happening and just evaluate where he is.”