Chelsea urged to sign rivals’ striker in huge summer deal as major doubts are cast over £30m flop – Exclusive | OneFootball

Chelsea have been told that Liam Delap’s goals output for the Blues has fallen below expectations, with a pundit exclusively telling TEAMtalk that a raid on London rivals Brentford could provide the answer to their problems this summer.

The Blues beat Manchester United to the signing of Delap last summer after paying Ipswich £30m for the England Under-21s striker, who had enjoyed a brilliant season for Ipswich the previous year. But while Delap arrived with a big reputation and with much expectations on his shoulders, the striker has struggled badly to find his A-game and has seen his campaign riddled by injuries and a suspension.

Indeed, with just two goals to his name in Chelsea colours, speculation that the Blues are looking for an upgrade this summer has begun to gather pace and our transfer correspondent, Graeme Bailey, recently confirmed interest in Atletico Madrid’s Julian Alvarez is genuine.

Weighing up his form, former Chelsea winger Pat Nevin has admitted that while there are positives to his game, his struggles to score regular goals, means speculation on a replacement is bound to start gathering pace.

“It’s a funny thing with Liam, because the numbers aren’t good, are they?” Nevin exclusively told TEAMtalk in association with BestBettingSites.

“Is it one goal so far in the Premier League? Something like that, which is not what you want. You expect a lot better than that for a big-money signing. And he did much better at Ipswich before the switch. But you ask Chelsea fans and they quite like him. The reason is he works hard, and he makes space for other people. He’s one of those strikers where maybe he won’t score…

“But if you’re playing with a player like that, and I’ve played with players like that in my time who were not on great scoring form, the work rate they do and the way that they lengthen the game by chasing and pushing it makes great space for other people. So theoretically, him and Joao Pedro together, because that means Joao Pedro can drop, is actually okay. But are the numbers good enough yet?

“Well, it’s the old Chelsea problem. Over the years, for such a long time, they spent a lot of money on centre-forwards. In the past it was slightly older ones, but it never quite worked the way they wanted, so it’s hard to see where the specific problem is. Where else do you go? Who else do you look for?

“If you can get somebody better who is going to add more, then fine. But they’ve gone through so many. [Nicolas] Jackson in the last couple of years – you can keep going back. You can go all the way back to [Andriy] Shevchenko. So it’s been a tough position for Chelsea to get right.

“But I suspect if they could get somebody who they felt could almost guarantee them 15 to 20 a season, they would lose Liam and they would lose anyone just to get that player….

Nevin reckons London rivals’ striker is ideal for Chelsea

When asked who Chelsea could look to sign as a replacement, Nevin suggested the Blues may need to look a little closer to home, with moves for some of the more traditional big names on the continent likely off their radar and no longer part of their transfer strategy.

“Who might move? Well, Harry Kane’s the only one you could think of that’s definite. There’s Kylian Mbappe, but you’re not going to get him either. Chelsea, now, are not that kind of club. You also need to fit into Chelsea’s rules, as it were – younger players wanted now.

“In actual fact, how many in the world can you look at and say, right, he’s a stick-on to get 15 or 20 a season, and you’re young and you’re coming through? It just doesn’t exist, really. So it’s a tough one for them, but they’ll keep trying.

“Given the route they’re trying just now – if there was one that was closest, it would probably be Igor Thiago. Because you look at that and think, right, okay, you’re scoring in the Premier League, and you are only 24.

“A lot of the problem with a lot of the other players that you get — and this isn’t just Chelsea, by the way. This seriously isn’t just Chelsea. This is Manchester United as well. They look around and think, yes, they scored a lot of goals in Germany or Italy. That’s different. That’s totally different; it doesn’t always translate.

“So somebody who is currently doing it in the Premier League, maybe he’s the one.”

Thiago has scored 18 goals in 27 appearances for Brentford this season, a notch every 129.27 minutes.

Rosenior happy to stand by Delap; Blues learn price to sign Bayern star

However, a report has revealed that, despite his tricky first season at Stamford Bridge, Blues boss Liam Rosenior is happy to stand by Delap into next season and has made clear to the striker that he remains part of his plans.

Per the report, Rosenior wants three high-quality strikers to choose from for next term, and the one condition under which he would only sanction an exit for Delap would be if a replacement is signed.

With United listed as keen, the report also backs up our recent claims that Everton are also sniffing around a possible summer swoop.

In other news, Chelsea have been aware of the transfer fee that they need to pay Bayern Munich to sign an international defender, who is the subject of interest from Tottenham as well.

Elsewhere, our transfer insider, Graeme Bailey, has revealed Chelsea’s interest in an Ecuadorian sensation, but there is interest from three other Premier League clubs.