Chelsea show Liam Delap faith with new announcement in bid to break 'curse' | OneFootball

New £30m arrival takes on key responsibility at Stamford Bridge as he looks to succeed where many others have failed over recent years

Liam Delap’s squad number at Chelsea has now been confirmed.

After weeks of transfer speculation, the England Under-21 striker’s move to Stamford Bridge was finally announced on Wednesday night.

He is the latest signing of what is already proving to be another busy summer in west London, with the Blues also in talks over Borussia Dortmund winger Jamie Gittens and also targeting AC Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan, as well as holding reported talks with Eintracht Frankfurt over potentially adding another striker in Hugo Ekitike.

Chelsea are also welcoming Brazilian wonderkid Estevao Willian from Palmeiras this summer as well as Ecuador star Kendry Paez and Genk goalkeeper Mike Penders, while earlier this week they confirmed the arrival of Portuguese midfielder Dario Essugo, whose Sporting Lisbon team-mate Geovany Quenda will also join next year.

Jadon Sancho’s spell at the club is now over though, after Chelsea decided against fulfilling the obligation in his season-long loan deal from Manchester United to complete a permanent £25m summer transfer, instead paying a £5m penalty fee.

Chelsea beat Manchester United to a deal for Delap after sealing a return to the Champions League on the final day of the Premier League season, with Newcastle, Nottingham Forest and Everton having also been interested in his signature.

However, the Blues’ return to Europe’s top table for next season is believed to have been the deciding factor in a battle with United, with the 22-year-old now confirmed as their new No9 after scoring 12 goals in 40 appearances for Ipswich this term.

The former Manchester City forward - son of ex-Republic of Ireland defender Rory Delap - takes a key and rather infamous shirt number that had been vacant since Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang left for Marseille two summers ago now.

Handing their newest signing the No9 is a sign of Chelsea’s obvious faith in Delap, but he will hope to avoid similar struggles to many other high-profile strikers that have worn it over the years, including Aubameyang, Romelu Lukaku, Gonzalo Higuain, Alvaro Morata, Radamel Falcao and Fernando Torres.

Tammy Abraham and Franco Di Santo - as well as Steve Sidwell and Khalid Boulahrouz - have also worn the No9 at Chelsea since both Mateja Kezman and Hernan Crespo had it in the early 2000s, following the likes of Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Chris Sutton and Gianluca Vialli.

Chelsea will hope that Delap - and, if they sign him, England team-mate Gittens - can play at the inaugural expanded summer Club World Cup in the United States this month, which clashes with the Under-21 European Championship in Slovakia, where he was expected to be an important player for Lee Carsley’s Young Lions.