Chelsea hoping to capitalise on another Man City transfer call to land next Cole Palmer
Chelsea are considering a swoop for Liam Delap - who is the latest young player to thrive after leaving Manchester City - with the striker impressing at Ipswich
by Samuel Meade · The MirrorChelsea are ready to pursue Ipswich frontman Liam Delap - who has only just left Manchester City.
The striker has been able to enjoy regular minutes having only previously received sporadic opportunities at the Etihad. This term though at the Tractor Boys he's hit six goals in 11 games despite the Premier League new boys largely struggling.
Delap left Manchester in the summer – the champions have inserted a buy-back clause along with a sell-on in a deal worth around £20m. The 21-year-old's route to the first-team was blocked by the likes of Erling Haaland, but he is now proving himself elsewhere.
The Blues are keeping tabs on his progress ahead of a potential move, reports The i. The west Londoners are on the lookout for a new striker after their summer move for Victor Osimhen collapsed with Delap now on their radar.
Chelsea, as they search for a frontman, want to look at younger alternatives who fit more readily into their wage structure and Delap is among those now on their shortlist.
In the summer the Blues were linked also with the Newcastle striker but plenty report that there is confidence in the north east that the Sweden star is content at the club and Chelsea are not thought to have a long-term interest in the player.
The Blues will hope that Delap can be another example of a young player being unable to get the minutes they wanted at City before heading elsewhere. That was the case with Cole Palmer, who moved to the Blues last summer and has gone on to become one of the league's best players.
Chelsea's playmaker scored 25 times last term and is now recognised as one of England's top performers. The £40million they paid already represents great value with some suggesting City were wrong to let him move on.
Guardiola confirmed last season that Palmer himself was looking to leave for several years with the likes of Phil Foden, Bernardo Silva and Kevin De Bruyne all ahead of him in the pecking order.
"He's an exceptional player. We knew this when he was here," the City boss previously said. "He's a nice guy, a shy guy, with a lot of confidence, and he's playing fantastically well." The Catalan added: "He was asking for two seasons to leave," Guardiola explained. "I said, 'no, stay'. But he still said, 'No, I want to leave'. What can I say?"
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