Chelsea Hijack Manchester United Top Target Liam Delap, After Reaching Agreement With Ipswich Town—-Chelsea and Ipswich Town have reached an agreement over the transfer of Liam Delap.

The England Under-21 international has a £30million ($40m) release clause in his contract at Ipswich that became active following the club’s relegation from the Premier League.

The 22-year-old’s personal terms are not anticipated to be a problem and he is now expected to move to Stamford Bridge.

The Athletic reported earlier on Thursday that sources at teams including Manchester United, Newcastle United, Everton, Nottingham Forest, AC Milan and Juventus — speaking on the condition of anonymity to protect relationships — had been informed the striker was heading elsewhere.

Ipswich signed Delap from Manchester City, where he made just six first-team appearances, in July 2024 in a deal worth an initial £15million ($19.2m) plus an additional £5m following their promotion to the English top-flight.

Despite Ipswich’s struggles at the wrong end of the table and subsequent relegation, Delap enjoyed a breakthrough campaign, scoring 12 goals in the Premier League.

He spent the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons across Championship loan spells at Stoke City, Preston North End and Hull City respectively, where he scored 12 times across 70 matches.

Delap, whose father Rory played 11 times for the Republic of Ireland, has been capped up to under-21 level for England.

Chelsea striker Marc Guiu, meanwhile, is a player of interest to Ipswich, who have been keen on him for some time. It is possible, though not guaranteed, that the 19-year-old Spaniard goes the other way on loan.

Having scored 12 of Ipswich’s 36 league goals, Delap has often been tasked with generating his own chances with limited service from his team-mates.

In a counter-attacking Ipswich side, Delap’s powerful, driving runs forward were a theme of his season as he has shouldered much of the attacking responsibility with a return of 10 non-penalty goals — at a rate of one in three — for his efforts.

Whether it is thumping finishes from range or delicate flicks at the near post, Delap is in a rush to get on the scoresheet. A desire to get forward is the bare minimum for a striker, but Delap is something of a throwback — an out-and-out striker who is desperate to stretch the opposition back line.