How Chelsea moved to brink of signing £30m Delap

Champions League football, Cole Palmer and having the youngest squad in the Premier League were three of the reasons that helped Chelsea move to the brink of signing Liam Delap.

Manchester United, Everton, Nottingham Forest and Newcastle all showed strong interest in the England Under-21 striker after a £30m release clause was activated following Ipswich's relegation from the Premier League.

Manchester City had a buy-back option after selling Delap for £20m last summer, but opted not to use it.

Earlier this month, Delap was given permission by Ipswich to speak to several interested clubs.

A decision was expected before the first summer transfer window - which will run from 1-10 June - with the European Under-21 Championship and Club World Cup on the horizon.

Over the past week it became evident the choice was between Manchester United and Chelsea, but it seems the Blues' final-day victory over Nottingham Forest - which confirmed Champions League qualification - was one of the deciding factors.

Interested parties were told on Thursday that the 22-year-old had made his decision, and he was spotted at Stansted Airport that evening before a medical on Friday.

His next big decision may be whether to follow England manager Thomas Tuchel's advice and play for England Under-21s this summer - or join up with his new club for the inaugural summer Club World Cup.

Delap has been a key target for Chelsea all season and it is understood co-owner Behdad Eghbali met the player's key agent David Mannasseh in Dubai. Eghbali even expressed his fondness for the player to Chelsea fans in Wroclaw before the Conference League final.

Head coach Enzo Maresca also pitched directly to Delap - as did at least one other manager - in face-to-face talks once Ipswich granted permission.

Delap has been impressed with Chelsea's style of play and feels the club will be a good fit. He will also have been urged to make the move by several former City academy graduates he will join at Stamford Bridge - such as Jadon Sancho, Romeo Lavia, Tosin Adarabioyo and Palmer.

Maresca worked with Delap in City's elite development squad, Chelsea's key recruiter Joe Shields is also known to have a good relationship with the player and his family, and academy director Glenn van der Kraan is one of several other connections between the two Premier League clubs.

Ipswich boss Kieran McKenna also retains good relations with the Chelsea hierarchy after being interviewed for their manager's job last summer.

And he will hope that helps in a potential move for striker Marc Guiu, who interests Ipswich as a loan replacement for Delap.

The 19-year-old Spaniard scored six goals in 14 appearances for Chelsea this season but has missed most of 2025 with a muscular injury. He returned as a late substitute during the Conference League final in Wroclaw.

As ever with these situations, Manchester United can draw a positive out of a negative.

They felt earlier this week it was coming towards the end game in their pursuit of Delap, and it was between them and Chelsea. Now they know they have lost out.

The positive is, with the decision made, they can move on. That is in stark contrast to 2022, when then manager Erik ten Hag delayed for months in an ultimately fruitless attempt to sign Frenkie de Jong and United ended up panicking at the end of the transfer window and spent £150m on Casemiro and Antony.

But that does not answer the pertinent question: who do they try for now?

Delap fitted their template of an improving, hungry young player, with scope to reach a high standard – at a set fee.

Rasmus Hojlund - who is four days younger than Delap - fitted the same criteria, apart from the last one. And it has not worked out.

Nothing I have seen on their post-season trip to Asia makes me feel United have the answer to their goalscoring issues within the club. In fact, it is quite the opposite.

The 'safe' but expensive options are Brentford's Bryan Mbeumo and Crystal Palace's Jean-Philippe Mateta. But Mateta is 27 and Mbeumo will be at the Africa Cup of Nations for a month with Cameroon.

After that, it is a risk.

Former United striker Danny Welbeck scored 10 goals in the Premier League at the age of 34. Is there any merit in bringing him back and taking some of the pressure off Hojlund - or has Ruben Amorim concluded the 22-year-old Denmark international will never be good enough?

If so, it is back to Europe to sign another promising forward with no guarantee it will work.

Newcastle, Nottingham Forest and Everton also showed interest in Delap.

It is understood the pitch by Everton and Moyes made a positive impression on Delap, but the club always understood they were underdogs.

Before the penultimate fixture of the season against Ipswich at Goodison Park, Moyes said: "We would certainly be interested if he was interested in us."

After the game, Everton fans did their best to persuade Delap to join them at the new Hill Dickinson Stadium - despite a hostile reception following run-ins with Jake O'Brien and Jarrad Branthwaite.

Supporters urged him to move to Merseyside as he visited 37 Goodison Road - a house across from the stadium which has a wall featuring footballers' signatures.

Ultimately, though, the lure of Champions League football means his next signature looks likely to be on a Chelsea contract.