Chelsea win the race for Liam Delap! Blues closing in on move for Ipswich star after striker gives green light to Stamford Bridge switch

Chelsea have been looking at striker options ahead of the summer transfer window, with the Blues keen on adding more options to challenge Nicolas Jackson. The Conference League champions have been linked to a number of forwards over the last two months, including Viktor Gyokeres, Benjamin Sesko, Hugo Ekitike and Ipswich’s Delap.

Delap has had a wonderful campaign in the 2024-25 season despite Ipswich Town struggling in the Premier League and ultimately being relegated back to the Championship. As such, Premier League giants had been on alert to sign Delap with Manchester United, Arsenal and Newcastle United being some of the clubs interested in the former Manchester City striker.

The Athletic’s David Ornstein has now reported that Delap is interested and prioritising a move to Chelsea this summer. talkSPORT has also reported that Chelsea want to sign the 22-year-old before the start of the Club World Cup, and are confident that the move will go through soon, subject to the agreement of personal terms.

Delap had reportedly been leaning toward a move to United this summer, however, Chelsea’s qualification to the Champions League and the Red Devils’ horror season may have tilted the odds in the West London side’s favour.

The agreement of personal terms will be crucial for Chelsea over the course of the next few weeks as Enzo Maresca would likely want the deal to be concluded before the start of the Club World Cup in the United States.