In the remainder of the transfer window, it feels as though lots of players are likely to leave Chelsea. The Blues beat Real Sociedad 3-1 in their final pre-season friendly of the summer at Stamford Bridge on Saturday, with Tosin Adarabioyo, Nicolas Jackson and Liam Delap among those not even named on the substitutes bench by Xabi Alonso.
Thus, it appears as though, given that they also have João Pedro, Marc Guiu, Emmanuel Emegha and new recruit Danny Welbeck vying for the centre-forward position, Delap is very much surplus to requirements in West London. Selling the 23 year old however might not be as straight-forward.
As reported by Martha Riley and Alex Crook of TalkSport, Como were interested in signing Delap, but the Englishman has no desire to make this move. This is despite the fact that, Cesc Fàbregas' side finished fourth in Serie A last season, so are preparing for a first-ever Champions League campaign. The Biancoblù's first-choice centre-forward is man familiar to Chelsea supporters, namely Álvaro Morata, so one would have to imagine that Delap could be a starter at Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia.
Nevertheless, the aforementioned Talk Sport report asserts that Delap's preference is to remain in the Premier League, amid interest from Newcastle United and Everton. The striker featured prominently during Chelsea's pre season tour of Asia, starting against Western Sydney Wanderers and Johor Darul Ta'zim, bagging a brace against the latter in Malaysia.
Nevertheless, fair to say those are not the highest level of opponents, and he is yet to convince the Chelsea faithful. Just over 12 months ago, Chelsea landed Delap for £30 million, despite interest from Manchester United and many others, given that this was his release clause. This came after the Manchester City academy graduate, and son of long throw specialists Rory, had scored 12 Premier League goals for an Ipswich Town team who suffered relegation, an impressive return.
Well, in 47 competitive outings for Chelsea, he has netted only three times, on target against Espérance Sportive de Tunis at the Club World Cup, Barcelona in the Champions League and during a 2-1 Premier League defeat at Craven Cottage against Fulham. Delap also missed four Opta-defined big chances in the league last season, more remembered for that than his solitary league goal.
Thus, most supporters would be pleased to see him depart, but finding a buyer, with Chelsea demanding £40 million, will not be easy. This is certainly a situation worth keeping an eye on.
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