What Should Chelsea Do with Liam Delap?

Chelsea have recently announced they’ve valued Liam Delap between £35m and £40m (Metro.co.uk), so that gets us straight into it.

The question of whether to sell him was a bit up in the air, and it’s funny to think he hasn’t lasted very long considering Chelsea pushed so hard to sign him last summer, and did so for a £30 million deal from Ipswich Town.

The question is now looking like who they should sell him to and how much for. Read on to find out.

What’s Happening With Liam Delap?

Anyone who knows anything about how Liam Delap performed last year knows it wasn’t exactly anything to shout about. Sports & casino betting in South Africa and across the UK will have put him as a favorite to score…lots, and actually make an impact on the pitch. It was actually so underwhelming that Chelsea are indeed selling him after he struggled to kick on in his maiden season at Stamford Bridge.

In Delap’s defense, his campaign was affected by injury and suspension, but he still only scored two goals in 41 appearances and was forced to play back-up to fellow summer signing Joao Pedro.

The reason why people are questioning what to do with him is that reports in April, June and as recently as 31 July (from the Telegraph) claimed he wanted to remain at Chelsea and prove himself to new manager Xabi Alonso.

And he might still stay, but we doubt that will be his personal preference if Alonso can’t offer regular football.

Should Chelsea Be Selling Delap?

Probably not so soon. As we said, he had a bad season, yes, but he also had an injury and a suspension, and then got overshadowed by Joao Pedro. They also signed Nicolas Jackson and Marc Guiu, and Emmanuel Emegha officially joined this summer. 

Danny Welbeck has now also signed a two-year contract after scoring 14 goals in 40 appearances for Brighton last season. So all of that didn’t really help Liam.

And we’d argue he didn’t really have the opportunity to prove himself to be as good as he was at Ipswich Town. And anyone who saw Delap play at Ipswich Town knows how good he can be. He scored 12 Premier League goals in 37 appearances for a relegated Ipswich side during 2024/25 and had been nominated for the PFA Young Player of the Year award.

So in terms of whether Chelsea sell him, a lot of Chelsea fans will say yes. And Chelsea now have an oversized attacking group. The club’s official Fantasy Premier League list already contained five senior forwards: Delap, João Pedro, Emegha, Jackson and Guiu. Delap could begin the season as Chelsea’s third or fourth centre-forward.

His 2025/26 output was not good enough for a club attempting to return to the Champions League. Two goals from 1,811 minutes is a massive decline from his 12-goal Ipswich campaign.

What Teams Are Showing Interest in Signing Liam Delap?

It’s not all doom and gloom for Liam Delap, even if he definitely will have wanted things to go differently last season.

Everton is looking like the strongest and most consistently reported interest in Liam Delap. Everton wanted Delap before he chose Chelsea in 2025. Sky Sports even reported today (3 August) that Everton had again investigated a deal because David Moyes wants a more reliable source of goals.

Nottingham Forest are also reportedly interested in Delap. The Telegraph reported that Delap had returned to Forest’s radar after previously holding talks with them. It seems that the new manager, Oliver Glasner, is reportedly an admirer and wants attacking reinforcements.

Leeds United are regularly linked, but less independently confirmed. Leeds are said to view Delap as competition for Dominic Calvert-Lewin and have reportedly been tracking his availability.

Newcastle United are a long-standing interest. They also met Delap before he selected Chelsea in 2025 and have been linked with him again during the spring of 2026. Recent reports claim discussions have been reopened.

Are Chelsea Making Bad Financial Decisions Again?

Well, not necessarily. They’ve made some good signings, and a lot of people will say that selling Delap is one of the better financial decisions the club has made. Chelsea paid £30 million, but under football accounting, the transfer fee is normally spread over the contract’s duration.

On a simplified six-year calculation, Delap costs approximately £5 million per year in amortization. After one year, his remaining accounting value would be approximately £25 million.

A sale for £35 million to £40 million could therefore generate an estimated accounting profit of £10 million to £15 million, before considering agents’ fees, transaction costs and Ipswich’s sell-on clause.

Selling Delap could help under the Premier League’s new Squad Cost Ratio rules. 

From 2026/27, clubs’ player and head-coach wages, agents’ fees and transfer amortization are generally limited to 85% of football revenue plus net profit or loss from player sales.

Chelsea also remain under a four-year UEFA settlement after breaching UEFA’s football-earnings requirements. The agreement includes an €80 million total fine. €20 million of that was unconditional, and requires a positive UEFA List A transfer balance when registering new players during 2025/26 and 2026/27.

It looks like Chelsea are selling Delap, and that’s probably the best move for him and the club. It’s a shame that he didn’t get to prove himself, as any Ipswich Town fan knows he can, but these things happen. Let’s see what club he ends up signing for.