CHELSEA are closing in on a £30m move for Ipswich’s highly-rated striker Liam Delap.
Should they lose to Newcastle on Saturday, the Tractor Boys will be relegated back to the Championship.
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Delap joined Ipswich from Manchester City last summer for just £20million.
And he is now available for just £30m after the Tractor Boys went down thanks to a relegation clause.
SunSport revealed exclusively on May 14 that the Blues were growing increasingly confident they could beat Man United to the £30million forward.
Delap, 22, scored 12 goals despite getting relegated – compared to 10 by Chelsea’s current main striker Nicolas Jackson.
SunSport’s tactics expert Lee Evans has looked at what makes Delap so good and what he would bring to Chelsea
MOVEMENT OFF THE LAST LINE
Delap took plenty of people by surprise this season at Ipswich.
He spent the previous campaign on loan with Hull in the Championship and his form did not suggest that he would take the Premier League by storm like he did.
One of the biggest surprises has been Delap’s clever.
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The young striker has shown an unexpected ability to play on the last line but still create space for himself.
When Ipswich are attacking, we often see Delap covered by two or three defenders.
But he routinely makes clever runs that give him the advantage over the opposition.
His movement is very intelligent but it’s the timing of these runs that really makes an impact and allows Delap to create space for himself.
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In the above example, we see a clever movement from Delap where he first creates the attack before timing his arrival into space to finish comfortably.
He picks up the ball and drives forward before releasing it wide.
The forward then moves into the space to pick up the cross and finish first time.
This contrasts to Jackson, who often mistimes his runs and is regularly caught offside
The Blues saw their form dip dramatically across the second half of the season and with that Cole Palmer suffered.
To get the best out of Palmer, Chelsea need to add a striker with the movement profile of Delap.
The former Man City star can attempt clever runs to make the most of the quality passes we usually see from Palmer.
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Chelsea will be taking a player with the presence, athleticism and intelligent movement to really help them break down teams that sit in a deeper defensive block.
Delap would naturally push defensive lines back and provide space for Palmer to occupy in behind, but he is also capable of receiving and linking the play around him.
Chelsea need to add a modern profile of striker for next season and Delap should be high on their list.
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Liam Delap would become the EIGHTH high profile name to move to Stamford Bridge from The Etihad, sometimes via a couple of other clubs in between.
Chelsea’s current head coach was once part of Pep Guardiola’s backroom staff at City — and is such of devotee of his former boss he’s known as Diet Pep. Maresca, 45, – who also spent a season as Leicester manager – worked as manager of City’s Under-23 team.
Chelsea’s Co-Director of Recruitment and Talent, who was poached from Southampton, where he spent just two months after leaving Man City in 2022.
Van der Kraan was at City before joining as Chelsea’s academy technical director last October. He was head of coaching at City’s academy
The 23-year-old England star made the switch from Man City to Chelsea in 2023 for £40million, potentially rising to £42.5m. Palmer, pictured here with Lavia at Man City in 2021, has become the star man at Chelsea with 37 goals in 68 games for the club.
The Belgium international midfielder, 21, joined Chelsea from Southampton for £53m in 2023. Before that he spent two years at Man City, making one appearance for the first team.
Sancho, 25, spent two years at Man City where he was rated very highly. But they sold the young winger to Dortmund for £8m in 2017, and he then joined Man Utd for £73m in 2021. Currently on loan at Chelsea.
The 6ft5in centre back was at Man City’s academy for four seasons, and made his debut for the first team aged 19. Now 27, he spent four years at Fulham before moving to Chelsea on a free transfer last summer.
INTELLIGENT MOVEMENT IN THE AREA
Modern strikers who thrive on running and attacking space behind the defensive line often struggle with their movement in tighter spaces, including the penalty area.
This is not the case with Delap.
One of the most interesting aspects of his development with Ipswich this season has been with his movement to create his own space within the opposition penalty area.
He has developed into an instinctive striker with excellent timing when looking to attack balls in the area.
Delap has the traditional size and shape of a target man is strong when attacking crosses.
Jackson, in contrast, lacks the physical presence to be an aerial threat.
And his movement in the box means he is often too late or too early to meet a cross.
Delap’s movement, anticipation and the timing of his first move however makes him really effective in the area.
He makes strong runs across the defender to attack space and has a tendency to arrive at the right time for the cross.
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In the above example, Delap is initially isolated as the only Ipswich player in the Aston Villa penalty area.
As the ball is worked wide the man in possession shifts the ball and drives across a good low cross.
As soon as the wide player started to shift his feet, Delap read the intention with a clever run across the face of the defender to finish past the goalkeeper.
Chelsea desperately need a clinical striker who can finish.
They finished fourth in the table and had a higher XG than Arsenal, but scored fewer goals than Brentford and Brighton.
PACE TO STRETCH THE PITCH
One of the stand-out things about Delap this year has been his strength when attacking space behind defensive lines.
For the most part, Ipswich have faced teams with more possession of the ball and as such the opposition have pushed their defence higher.
This has, in turn, meant that Ipswich have generally had space to counter attack with more direct passes, releasing Delap into space.
In the modern game, more and more teams are looking for tall and powerful strikers who have the pace and ability to run behind and force the opposition to defend in space.
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That fits the profile of Delap nicely. He can stretch the space and really cause danger for his team when they are trying to attack quickly from deeper areas.
Delap has the ability to peel off the defender to create space for himself before then making quick runs to attack the space.
His team-mates know they can quickly hit forward passes to release him into space.
CONCLUSION
Football is in Delap’s blood. His dad Rory played for Stoke City, and Delap Jr appeared on the set of Soccer AM in 2014 alongside his father.
The former Stoke City and Ireland midfielder is best remembered for his insanely long throw-ins.
Delap Jr could be the player to help things click for Chelsea and take them to the next level.
If he can get the absolute best out of Palmer, and vice versa, then surely the Blues will return to their absolute best.
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