Republic of Ireland boss Heimir Hallgrimsson has revealed he recently met Blues striker Liam Delap to sound him out about switching international allegiance.

Delap, who is expected to complete a £30 million move to Chelsea over the next few days, qualifies for Ireland via his grandparents, his father Rory having won 11 full caps with the Boys in Green.

The 22-year-old is currently playing for the England U21s, who travel to the European Championship in Slovakia next month, but Hallgrimsson says he has made his case to the Winchester-born frontman.

“Liam has good qualities, everybody knows that,” Hallgrimsson said. ”His father played for the Republic.

“Obviously, we are always hoping the good players will join us. He is now in the England U21 squad in the [Euros] finals.

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

“We have sat with him, yeah. Just told him we would love to have him in our camp. But, like I said, the focus is the [England] U21s.”

Pressed on whether Delap showed any interest at all, the Icelander joked: “Well, he didn’t say ‘f**k off!’”.

Ultimately, Hallgrimsson concedes any decision to switch will come down to where the player’s international allegiances lie, Delap having played for England at U16, U17, U18, U19 and U20 levels as well as winning 12 U21s caps and scoring three goals.

“I feel so, yeah,” he admitted when asked if players with strong links should be playing for Ireland. “Probably you feel the same as well?

“We want the best players available, always playing for us. Others might have other opinions.

“It is up to him. These questions you need to ask the player himself, not me. We always want the best players.”

Photo: Matchday Images

RIPbobby added 11:03 - May 30 This is a very positive step for Liam. Perhaps this may force England to give him minutes at senior level. If he plays this well he could get a very rapid call up. He and his agent need to think carefully here.
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bobble added 11:55 - May 30 He should jump at this, england are never going to win anything...
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barrystedmunds added 12:11 - May 30 With the greatest of respect, nor are the Republic!!!!
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cooper4england added 12:35 - May 30 Didn't drop the f-bomb but that still leaves numerous other expletives.
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Gforce added 13:24 - May 30 Ollie Watkins 28,Ivan Toney 29 and Harry Kane 31,he should definitely stick with England as the current competition won't be around for many more years.
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MickMillsTash added 14:37 - May 30 Playing For Ireland in footballing outposts of the Nations league, Kazhakstan, Finland, Gibraltar, Scotland - F£&! Off
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tractorboybig added 14:58 - May 30 Of no interest to Ipswich now
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ArnieM added 16:14 - May 30 He'd have far more chance of playing for Ireland than he would England seniors. There are too many ( frankly better) strikers ahead of him. He could bide his time gor 2 years or more because these senior players are at their prime so having watched Delap huff and puff to beat PL defenders who has eised up to his current capabilities, during the second half of the season, tells me Drlap isn't anywhere near ready gor an England senior call up yet. I do feel the hype surrounding him atm is ridiculous.. .. itll be interesting to see how he performs at Chelsea, where i think he's going to need to be playing week in week.out for them next season. Is he going to do that at Chelsea?

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ArnieM added 16:19 - May 30 Strikers currently ahead of him : Harry Kane, Ollie Watkins, and Anthony Gordon, Jarrod Bowen, Bukayo Saka, Cole Palmer, and Ivan Toney.
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Gforce added 17:36 - May 30 ArnieM......Only 3 of those you mention are out & out centre forwards, so his chance may come sooner than you think.
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armchaircritic59 added 17:44 - May 30 Well you can't blame HH for trying, nothing to lose. I will wait and see whether LD becomes a one or perhaps a half a season wonder. Certainly the raw talent is there, but I've seen it all before, plenty of times. I do hope he goes on to prove himself at the highest possible level, it's certainly nothing personal.
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Mark added 17:57 - May 30 It may be better Delap doesn't play international football for a while as it may trigger another payment to Man City as part of the reported £15m rising to £20m deal.
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ArnieM added 21:15 - May 30 Force. Well hopefully for him it foes. But I personally don't think hes anywhere near ready for ut yet. Couple of years ( seasons) maybe. But as the England manager has indicated, he needs to be playing regularly in the PL. I'm honestly not convinced hes made the best choice of club to go to. How do you feel about it?
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ArnieM added 21:16 - May 30 Sorry, that should have been addressed as " GForce" ...
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churchmans added 08:50 - May 31 Delap will be englands main striker come the world cup
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