West Brom may be watching Ipswich Town, Liam Delap transfer situation closely | OneFootball

Ipswich Town could reignite their interest in West Brom striker Josh Maja if Liam Delap departs the club this summer.

Despite losing head coach Carlos Corberan to Valencia in December, West Bromwich Albion remain firmly in promotion contention in the Championship.

Many West Brom supporters feared that Corberan's sudden exit would derail their season, but Tony Mowbray, who made an emotional return to The Hawthorns for a second spell in charge in January, has kept the club's promotion push on track.

The Baggies picked up an impressive point in their 1-1 draw at Leeds United on Saturday, with Darnell Furlong's header cancelling out Junior Firpo's opener for the Whites, and they became just the fourth visiting team to avoid defeat at Elland Road this campaign.

Albion currently sit sixth in the table, level on points with seventh-placed Bristol City and eighth-placed Blackburn Rovers, and they are back in action when they welcome Queens Park Rangers to The Hawthorns this weekend.

Given their lofty league position, the Baggies will be fully focused on achieving promotion this season, but should they miss out on a return to the Premier League, they could be vulnerable to losing some of their stars, including striker Josh Maja.

West Brom may have lingering Josh Maja summer fear

Maja joined West Brom on a free transfer from French side Bordeaux in the summer of 2023, but his first season at The Hawthorns was severely disrupted by injury, and he scored just one goal in 12 games last term.

After Maja returned to full fitness over the summer, Albion supporters were excited to see what the 26-year-old could do this season, and he made an explosive start to the campaign as he scored a hat-trick in his side's 3-1 win at QPR on the opening weekend.

That set the tone for what was to follow over the next few months, and prior to sustaining a lower leg injury in January, Maja scored an impressive 12 goals in 26 appearances, meaning he found the back of the net almost once every two games on average.

Such was Maja's strong form, it was reported in January that Premier League trio Ipswich Town, Bournemouth and Southampton were keeping tabs on the striker, but it is likely that his injury, which is expected to keep him out for at least a few more weeks, deterred any of his suitors from making a move.

Mowbray is hopeful that Maja could make his return before the end of the season, and while that would be a huge boost to the Baggies' promotion prospects, it also means that he will likely be fit when the summer transfer window opens, which may be a concern for the Midlands outfit.

Should West Brom miss out on promotion, there is a chance they could lose Maja to a Premier League side, but they may also be wary of interest from their fellow Championship clubs.

While Ipswich are currently only five points from safety in the top flight, there is little to suggest that Kieran McKenna's men will be able to make a late-season push for survival, and an immediate return to the second tier looks a likely outcome at this stage.

Relegation could rule the Tractor Boys out of the race for Maja, particularly as Albion would be reluctant to sell to a potential promotion rival, but the Suffolk side are known to have vast financial resources, and their budget could be bolstered even further by the exit of star striker Liam Delap in the summer.

Delap joined Ipswich from Manchester City in a deal reportedly worth £20 million in the summer, but after a stunning season that has seen him score 10 goals and provide two assists in 29 appearances, he is now worth significantly more than that, and he has been linked with the likes of Manchester United and Chelsea in recent months.

It would be tough for the Tractor Boys to keep hold of Delap even if they were to stay in the Premier League, but relegation would almost certainly guarantee his summer departure, and Maja could emerge on their radar once again if they are forced to search for a replacement for the in-demand 22-year-old.

Even if Ipswich do not renew their interest, Maja is likely to attract further attention in the upcoming transfer window, and as Adam Armstrong and Will Lankshear are only at the club on loan, Mowbray could be facing a big rebuild of his forward line in the summer, particularly if the Baggies fail to win promotion.