How Chelsea won the race to sign £30m Delap

Chelsea Signs Liam Delap Amidst Strong Competition

Chelsea has successfully signed Liam Delap. The club's appeal included Champions League football and a young squad. Delap, an England Under-21 striker, was highly sought after.

Manchester United, Everton, Nottingham Forest, and Newcastle were also interested. A £30 million release clause was activated after Ipswich's relegation. Manchester City had a buy-back option but chose not to use it.

Earlier this month, Ipswich allowed Delap to speak with interested clubs. It became clear that the final choice was between Chelsea and Manchester United. Chelsea's recent victory over Nottingham Forest secured their Champions League spot.

Delap made his decision known last week. He was seen at Stansted Airport for a medical appointment. He is expected to join Chelsea for the summer Club World Cup instead of playing for England.

Chelsea has targeted Delap all season long. Co-owner Behdad Eghbali met with his agent in Dubai. Eghbali even expressed his admiration for Delap to fans in Wroclaw.

Head coach Enzo Maresca spoke directly with Delap during negotiations. Several former City academy players encouraged him to join Chelsea as well. These include Jadon Sancho and Romeo Lavia.

Maresca previously worked with Delap at Manchester City's development squad. Chelsea recruiter Joe Shields also has a good relationship with him and his family.

Ipswich manager Kieran McKenna maintains good ties with Chelsea’s leadership too. He hopes this will aid in acquiring striker Marc Guiu as a loan replacement for Delap.

Guiu scored six goals in 14 appearances for Chelsea this season but missed most of 2025 due to injury. He returned as a substitute during the Conference League final.

What’s Next for Manchester United?

Manchester United can find positives despite losing out on Delap. They realized last week that they were falling behind in the race for him against Chelsea.

Now that he has chosen another club, they can move forward more decisively than before. This contrasts sharply with their drawn-out pursuit of Frenkie de Jong last year.

United needs to address their goalscoring issues urgently now that they have lost out on Delap. Rasmus Hojlund was another target but hasn't met expectations so far.

The team’s post-season trip did not reveal any promising solutions within the current squad either. Safe yet costly options like Bryan Mbeumo from Brentford are available but come with risks.

Danny Welbeck could be considered again as he scored ten Premier League goals last season at age 34. However, doubts remain about Hojlund's potential under Ruben Amorim’s management.

If Welbeck isn’t viable, United may need to search Europe again for promising forwards without guarantees of success.

Everton Makes an Impression

Newcastle, Nottingham Forest, and Everton also showed interest in signing Delap. Everton's pitch impressed him despite knowing they were underdogs in the race.

Before facing Ipswich at Goodison Park, Moyes expressed interest in signing him if he was keen on joining them. Afterward, fans tried hard to persuade him during his visit near the stadium.

Supporters urged him to consider moving to Merseyside while visiting a house nearby covered in football signatures. Ultimately, however, Champions League football swayed his decision towards Chelsea.