Exclusive explains Chelsea’s new deadline for major summer deal | OneFootball

Our writer Simon Phillips has today published an exclusive update on the story which looks set to be one of the biggest of the summer for Chelsea fans.

The team have been in need of another striker for a while now, and everything seems to be falling into place for that to be Liam Delap.

The striker has a few things in his favour when it comes to the competition. He’s young, he’s well known to Enzo Maresca from their shared time at Man City, he’s cheap thanks to his £30m relegation release clause, and he’s stylistically perfect to work as Nicolas Jackson’s replacement or partner.

Phillips says that Chelsea have “reopened” talks with Delap, and have a very specific goal in mind – signing him before the Club World Cup, which begins at the start of June. He claims that Chelsea “actually came pretty close to signing Delap in January,” but have since put off a deal, only to restart efforts now,

Striker “open to Chelsea move” but competition will be fierce

Chelsea target Liam Delap in action for Ipswich Town (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)

While the £30m release clause is very tempting, it’s worth bearing in mind that there will be a lot of teams interested in Delap, so there’s no guarantee we can get him at that price.

The good news is that Delap “is open to a Chelsea move,” which is about all we can hope for at this stage. First we have to agree terms with Ipswich, then we can make our pitch to the striker.

The idea of signing him ahead of the Club World Cup is very juicy – just imagine getting that sneak peak of our exciting new striker in action in the summer. Fans would love it, and it would give Enzo Maresca a chance to get to work with our new number 9 right away.