Chelsea open to three striker deals as Xabi Alonso overhaul ramps up | OneFootball

Blues have reunited Danny Welbeck with Joao Pedro and signed Emmanuel Emegha this summer

Liam Delap is attracting transfer interest from Everton and Nottingham Forest with his Chelsea future in doubt.

Standard Sport understands that while Delap is keen to stay and fight for his place at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea are open to letting the 23-year-old leave just a year after signing him for £30million from Ipswich.

Delap endured a difficult debut season in west London, scoring just two goals across all competitions as he provided cover for first-choice striker Joao Pedro.

Xabi Alonso’s arrival as manager has done little to offer Delap encouragement that he will get increased playing time this season, with the new Blues boss set to continue with Joao Pedro as the leading man up top.

Chelsea - who signed veteran Danny Welbeck from Brighton last week and have also welcomed Emmanuel Emegha from Strasbourg this summer - have several strikers whose futures are up in the air, and it is understood that they could sanction exits for all three of Delap, Nicolas Jackson and Marc Guiu.

Jackson has interest from Aston Villa after returning from his loan spell at Bayern Munich, and Chelsea would be willing to sell him for the right price.

Any deal for the Senegalese forward is, however, complicated by the fact that Villa have already loaned Alejandro Garnacho from Chelsea with a conditional obligation to sign him permanently next summer.

Futures uncertain: Chelsea strikers Marc Guiu, Liam Delap and Nicolas Jackson

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Current Premier League rules state that a club cannot have more than one player on loan from the same club at the same time, and so Villa could only pursue a permanent move for Jackson.

Signing Jackson permanently, though, is not straightforward due to UEFA’s 'swap' rules.

UEFA's transfer regulations state that multiple deals between two clubs, with players moving in both directions and completed within a 45-day period, will be considered a swap.

It also states that if two clubs transfer players in the same window after those 45 days have elapsed, the deals could still be considered a swap if there is anything in the contracts linking the transactions.

Chelsea have already completed the club-record £117m signing of Morgan Rogers from Villa this summer.

Chelsea are also open to letting Guiu leave either on loan or permanently before the September 1 transfer deadline, with the 20-year-old keen to play more minutes.

The Spanish youth international has been a bit-part player for Chelsea since arriving from Barcelona in 2024.

He joined newly-promoted Sunderland on loan last summer but was recalled by Chelsea after just a month when Jackson left on loan to Bayern.

Guiu has interest from a number of clubs, but nothing is advanced at this stage.

Standard Sport understands that Chelsea are in talks with Championship club Portsmouth over a season-long loan deal for highly-rated young winger Ryan Kavuma-McQueen, with guarantees over playing time forming part of those negotiations.