Chelsea are front runner to sign Liam Delap and he will leave Ipswich in the summer even if they stay up according to Ben Jacobs.
The Blues were linked with Delap in January, but a mid-season move never materialised, although it’s been reported he’d be open to a switch to Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea are in desperate need of a number nine to provide an alternative option to Nicolas Jackson and Delap has certainly caught their eye.
Delap set to leave Ipswich in the summer
Delap joined the Tractor Boys from Manchester City last summer for £20m and the English champions do have a buy back clause if they wish to exercise it.
The 22-year-old has scored nine league goals in a struggling Ipswich side, the same Jackson has managed so far this campaign.
Delap came through the academy at City, and played under Enzo Maresca in the City side which won the Premier League 2 title, with Cole Palmer and Romeo Lavia also part of that side.
Chelsea will almost certainly sign a striker in the summer, with Benjamin Sesko another name on their list, but Jacobs has provided an update on the future of Delap.
“Chelsea are front-runners to sign Liam Delap, who will leave Ipswich even if they stay up,” he told the Market Madness podcast in words cited on X.com.
“Delap intrigued by the Chelsea project and has ‘strong chance’ to become their number nine.”
Maresca publicly praised Delap earlier in the season, and he’s the profile of striker Chelsea are looking for, with his strengths and characteristics different to those Jackson possesses.
What sort of fee Ipswich would command remains to be seen, but if they were to get relegated their negotiating position would be significantly weakened.
Manchester United and Liverpool are also thought to have considered the striker, but it’s appears Chelsea are in pole position to complete a deal if they wish to.
Chelsea News keep talking up Liam Delap and he’s admittedly shown some signs of having real talent, but to keep casting him as some sort of savior is utterly ridiculous. Nicolas Jackson is far more well-rounded and, if we’re honest, has done far more to prove himself at the highest level than Delap. For all of the carping Chelsea News has done about Jackson in the past 18 months it’s a bit jaw-dropping to see you guys turning into cheerleaders for a guy who has proven almost nothing yet in his career—especially when we know that what we really need is a proven finisher.
I love Nicolas Jackson to pieces and I thought his absence was immediately missed against Brighton (with Nkunku appearing totally incapable of filling his shoes due to his lack of physicality and work rate). But if we want to provide depth and competition to Jackson it needs to be with someone who has a PROVEN track record of finishing in front of goal (the one knock on Jackson) not some debutante who’s only played a handful of matches at the highest level.