Former Chelsea star Joe Cole is convinced the club will win the race to sign Ipswich star Liam Delap this summer.
Delap left Manchester City to join newly promoted Ipswich last year and the 22-year-old enjoyed an eye-catching debut season for the club in the Premier League, notching 12 goals and two assists in 36 appearances.
Though Delap’s goals were not enough to save Ipswich from the drop, the promising young striker won himself plenty of admirers with his performances – and the Tractor Boys are resigned to losing their top scorer when the transfer window opens for business.
A relegation release clause in Delap’s contract at Portman Road means the forward is available for just £30million, a sum which has put the likes of Manchester United, Newcastle, Everton and Chelsea on red alert.
Old Trafford had initially appeared the most likely destination for Delap, but the latest reports indicate that Chelsea have jumped to the front of the queue and are now the favourites to wrap up a deal for the England Under-21 international.
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In the wake of Chelsea’s Europa Conference League triumph over Real Betis, TNT Sports’ punditry panel discussed potential attacking targets the club should look to pursue.
‘Everyone is going to say [Alexander] Isak. If not Isak, I would go Delap,’ West Ham striker Michail Antonio said.
‘He’s strong, he knows where the goal is. He’s an old-school number nine.
‘The amount of goals he got at Ipswich… if he was at a bigger club, he would probably be getting double that.’
Former Chelsea midfielder Steve Sidwell waxed lyrical about Delap’s potential, even likening the Ipswich centre-forward’s game to that of a young Alan Shearer.
‘He fits the bill. He’s young and hungry, he’s someone that the coach here can develop,’ Sidwell responded.
‘He kind of reminds me of a young Alan Shearer when he was at Southampton then went to Blackburn.
‘He’s robust, he’s an out-and-out number nine, he knows where the goal is, he can score a goal.
‘I think that’s a good shout.’
Cole, a three-time Premier League winner with Chelsea, chimed in: ‘I’d actually be stunned if he isn’t at Chelsea.’
Speaking to talkSPORT a day earlier, John Terry took a slightly different view, urging Chelsea to instead look to experience when strengthening up front this summer.
Asked if he was a fan of Delap, Terry responded: ‘Firstly, I think Nico [Jackson] has been really good and when I watch him play, he’s one of a handful of strikers in the league who wants to play on the shoulder.
‘Playing against that as a defender is a nightmare because it kind of stretches you and opens up that space in the midfield.
‘So I like Nico, he’s probably not been as clinical as we would like as Chelsea fans, but I think if you’re looking to go to that next step, you need to bring in someone who is proven, who has done it, who has scored goals in the Premier League.
‘That tends to be an experienced player and the owners are quite clear they’re not going to go down that route. They don’t want to bring in someone of 29, 30 years of age on big money. It’s going to be a different model and a different mindset.
‘I don’t think we’ll go down that route [of signing an experienced striker], but I personally feel we do need that.’
Ipswich head coach Kieran McKenna made it clear he expected Delap to leave the club when facing the media ahead of his side’s final match of the season against West Ham.
‘Liam’s looking at his options for next year, which I think he is entitled to do and we support him with that,’ Kieran McKenna told reporters.
‘I think we have given him permission to do that this week. It’s a very important decision for his future.
‘Of course there is a lot of interest – and rightly so. I think part of his week has been having some of those conversations.
‘It looks more likely than not that he will move on this summer and he has interest from pretty much every club in the league, and I don’t think there are many clubs in the world who wouldn’t want to have him.
‘Nothing is sorted, nothing is done or completed or even very, very, very close, so that process will take its course.’
Does Delap have what it takes to lead the line for Chelsea?
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Yes
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No
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