There are now widespread reports in the transfer rumour mill claiming that Ipswich Town striker Liam Delap is on the verge of joining Chelsea.
Now that their 2024/25 season has concluded, Chelsea appear to be moving very swiftly to wrap up business ahead of the imminent summer window.
Ipswich star Liam Delap, 22, looks to be on his way to Stamford Bridge after a transfer development.
Delap has received transfer interest from up to 11 clubs because of a £30m release clause that has been widely mentioned following Ipswich’s relegation from the Premier League.
Journalist Fabrizio Romano has now reported via X that Delap will be joining Chelsea, using his famous ‘here we go’ tag line to signal that the deal is imminent.
Cole Palmer will be excited by Liam Delap transfer development because of their record together
If the Delap deal is concluded, he will arrive at Chelsea into a dressing room where he knows some faces.
The Ipswich centre-forward was previously coached by Blues manager Enzo Maresca in Manchester City’s academy. On top of that, he played alongside Romeo Lavia and Cole Palmer in the successful Man City youth team.
It’s quite obvious that any centre-forward who leads the line for Chelsea right now needs a positive understanding with Palmer, the creative playmaker who usually pulls the strings from the No 10 position.
Chelsea supporters expect big things from Delap and Palmer when they reunite at the Bridge next season. If the fanbase want any more encouragement, the incredible record that they already have together should provide it.
| Matches played | Wins | Draws | Losses | Goals scored | Goals against | Joint goal participation |
| 33 | 28 | 3 | 2 | 122 | 30 | 8 |
As you can see above, Delap and Palmer are used to winning football matches when they share the field. They’ve linked up superbly well in the past across various Man City age groups, and they have represented England’s Under-21s side together as well.
Earlier in May, Delap raved about Palmer by describing him as one of the world’s best players.
Like supporters, we think Palmer will be excited about the prospect of Delap joining from Ipswich to rekindle their partnership in attack. Without a doubt, the physical striker possesses the sort of threat that he should enjoy supplying with crosses and through balls.
Liam Delap will need to disrupt the partnership of Cole Palmer and Nicolas Jackson
While we are very excited about seeing Palmer and Delap share the pitch again at Chelsea, don’t forget Nicolas Jackson.
During the past two seasons, Palmer has formed a great understanding with Blues striker Jackson. In fact, Palmer and Jackson have worked close together to try improve their understanding on the football pitch.
It’s obvious that Palmer is one of the first names in Chelsea’s XI every week, something that won’t be changing for the foreseeable future. However, we expect Delap and Jackson to be superb competition for each other next year as they slug it out for the starting No 9 spot.
Jackson and Palmer have directly combined for 15 goals in 72 Chelsea games together (Transfermarkt), so Delap must know he’s got a real challenge ahead of him.
