Premier League heavyweights Chelsea are believed to be lining up in their crosshairs a blockbuster offer for a former Manchester City academy graduate in the January transfer window, with the promising £20m star said to be nourishing high hopes of breaking into the England squad in 2025.
The Blues are currently among the highest scorers in the Premier League this season with both Cole Palmer and Nicolas Jackson enjoying stellar campaigns for Enzo Maresca’s side. Regardless, the West London outfit remain keen to further reinforce their frontline and have identified Ipswich Town frontman Liam Delap as the caliber of player who could help aid their Champions League bid.
The 21-year-old moved to Portman Road over the summer in a deal worth up to £20m from Manchester City – making him the second most expensive player in Suffolk’s side history behind former Blues youngster Omari Hutchinson.
Having played just 47 minutes of Premier League football for the Sky Blues before joining Ipswich, Delap’s only real first team experience had come during loan spells at Stoke City, Hull City and Preston North End at Championship level. However, since making the move to Ipswich he has proven he is more than capable of thriving in the top-flight and his overall tally of seven goals in 18 appearances gives him one of best minute-per-goal rates of any player in the division which is hugely impressive for a team struggling near the bottom of the table.
The England Under-21 international enjoys a reputation for his tremendous physicality, composure in front of goal and his ability to bring other players into the game with his excellent hold-up play. Attributes that Chelsea were made aware of in the final game of 2024 as Delap contributed a goal and an assist against a disjointed Blues side in a shock 2-0 win for the Tractor Boys at Portman Road. These qualities, according to TeamTalk, make him a top target for both Chelsea and Liverpool as they look to enhance their attacking options.
Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca, who used to coach Delap at Under-21 level at Manchester City, has often waxed lyrical about the forward’s qualities and believes he is more than capable of representing England at some stage in the near future.
“Liam is a fantastic player and also for his age. I think we spent one year together and I think he scored 22, 24 goals and he is a very good striker,” Maresca stated.
“In England, they have many like him and they have many good players, good strikers and he’s working hard off the ball, on the ball he understands the game and can score goals. And also because of his age, I think he can be an important player for England.”
However, Ipswich, who are battling to survive in the top-flight are determined to keep hold of Delap and are understood to be doing everything they can to thwart the Blues’ interest until at least the summer.