£40m price set: Chelsea open to offers for player who's spoken with Eddie Howe | OneFootball

Chelsea are reportedly expected to be open to offers for flop striker Liam Delap this summer, with Newcastle United named as potential suitors.

Delap already spoke with Newcastle manager Eddie Howe while he was at Ipswich Town, before ultimately deciding on the move to Stamford Bridge.

That’s according to talkSPORT, who suggest that the 23-year-old forward could now be available for something in the region of £40m.

Delap scored an impressive 12 goals in 37 Premier League games for Ipswich, which led to plenty of interest in him last summer.

Still, there’s no getting away from the fact that he’s been a disappointment at Chelsea, scoring only one league goal so far.

Liam Delap transfer could be risky for Newcastle United

As we reported yesterday, Delap doesn’t look like an ideal fit for Newcastle right now, even if they could do with strengthening up front.

The Magpies urgently need a top class replacement for Alexander Isak, with neither Nick Woltemade or Yoane Wissa delivering for the club so far.

As you can see in the table above, Delap scored just 8/25 using our Transfer Fit rating system (more detail on how it works here), which is a low score mostly based on the fact that his recent form is poor and he doesn’t have enough of an overall track record to make up for it.

NUFC can surely find a better way to spend £40m, or, even better than that, try for a more expensive player who might prove the better investment in the long run anyway.

Delap’s fee isn’t crazily high, but that doesn’t mean he’s right for Newcastle at the moment, with Howe’s side in need of a strong window to make up for the chaos of last summer when they fought long and hard to keep Isak only to lose him anyway and end up with inadequate replacements.