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Feature
- 19 hours ago
Chelsea MILES ahead of Man Utd in race for English wonderkid
Carlo Garganese
- 9 Apr 2025 12:06 BST
- 3 min read
News
Chelsea are well ahead of Manchester United in the race for the signature of Liam Delap this summer.
Graeme Bailey reports for TBR Football that Chelsea are significantly ahead of Man Utd in their pursuit of Delap.
READ MORE: Premier League top scorers 2024/25
Current ETV
Liam Delap
F (C), AM (R)
Ipswich Town
Liam Delap
F (C), AM (R)
Ipswich Town
ETV Range
€24.8M - €41.3M
The Blues have been working on a deal for Delap since as early as 2023, discussing the striker when he was still at Manchester City when doing a deal for Cole Palmer.
Chelsea's talks for Delap are far more advanced than other clubs, while the player himself is aware how much work the Blues have put in to try and sign him.
READ MORE: Man Utd top scorers 2024/25
Chelsea ahead in race for Delap
Chelsea are far from the only club who want to sign Delap this summer, with Bailey reporting that the player's agents has held talks with half of the Premier League.
Man Utd have, according to mutiple sources, made Delap their top striker target this summer.
But Chelsea are hot favourites to sign the English star, with many sources expecting them to win the race for the striker at the end of the season.
Indeed, FootballTransfers reported at the end of February that Chelsea have gone all-in for Delap.
It is reported that it will take a bid of around €48 million (£40m) to begin the bidding on Delap.
This is the value of the buyback clause that Man City inserted in Delap’s deal when they sold him to Ipswich.
Delap has been enjoying an exceptional breakthrough campaign with Ipswich.
In the Premier League, he has scored 12 goals in just 30 appearances for a side battling relegation.
He is the son of former Derby, Southampton and Stoke star Rory Delap, who was most famous for his incredible long throws.
Delap Jr started his career in the youth system of Derby before being signed by Man City in 2019.
He was very highly rated at City and went on a series of loan moves to Stoke, Preston and Hull.
After impressing in the Championship for Hull in 2023-24, he was signed permanently by Ipswich in the summer of 2024 for €24m plus the aforementioned buyback clause.
Delap has now emerged as one of the most promising youngsters in the Premier League.
