Chelsea Transfers

[Vesper 31,037]

Jonathan Tah has chosen Barcelona for his next club as he prepares to leave Bayer Leverkusen on a free transfer in the summer.

[Vesper 31,037]

When Liam Delap dominates, people notice – no wonder big clubs are keeping tabs on him

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6138610/2025/02/16/liam-delap-ipswich-manchester-united-Chelsea/

As long as Liam Delap keeps scoring, Ipswich Town will have a chance of staying in the Premier League.

Delap struck his 10th league goal of the season against Aston Villa on Saturday to secure third-bottom Ipswich’s first point since the beginning of January, keeping them within touching distance of Wolverhampton Wanderers, who are away to leaders Liverpool today, in the safety of 17th.

The 22-year-old has emerged as one of the Premier League’s brightest young talents and as he walked past the away supporters packed into the Doug Ellis Stand at Villa Park after being substituted in the 80th minute, they showered him in adulation.

It was a similar scene at full time, only this time he was joined by the visitors’ manager Kieran McKenna and the rest of their squad, who stood there as the buoyant crowd chanted about their prospects of staying in the Premier League for next season.

As a striker, Delap is a throwback to yesteryear, but with a deft touch. He’s tall (186cm/6ft 1in), physical, direct, and can bully defenders. Just ask Axel Disasi, making his Villa debut on loan from Chelsea, what the first 45 minutes felt like.

In the dressing room at half-time, McKenna spoke about his team having a chance to win against a lacklustre Villa, despite the fact his side lost Axel Tuanzebe, sent off for two yellow-card offences, before the break. All they had to do, in their manager’s words, was to get “one or two moments” and for one of them to fall to Delap.

That is exactly what happened as Omari Hutchinson beat Ian Maatsen on the right before zipping the ball into a penalty area that contained four Villa defenders, only for Delap to cut across his man and clip a neat finish past goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez.

 

Delap made it 10 goals this season in the 1-1 draw at Villa (Clive Mason/Getty Images)

“Really good goal,” McKenna said after the match. “You always hope that he will get a couple of moments. It’s good movement from Liam and a different type of goal for him as well, in terms of getting across the defender. Really good.”

Against Villa, it was no surprise that Delap’s overall input was limited, yet when Ipswich needed him to step up, he did. The Manchester City academy graduate was involved in more defensive actions (six) than he was in attacking build-up play (five).

Marcus Stewart, who played up front for Ipswich in 2000-01, is the only player to score more goals (19) in a single Premier League campaign for the club, further highlighting Delap’s impressive impact since last summer’s £20million ($25.2m at the current exchange rate) move from the champions.

In his own post-match press conference, Villa manager Unai Emery said Delap is doing a “fantastic” job, as well as describing him as a “very competitive striker”.

Delap’s goals and performances this season have caught the attention of clubs throughout the Premier League, with The Athletic revealing earlier this week that Manchester United have been tracking his performances. City inserted a £40million buy-back clause into the deal when they sold him to Ipswich, while Chelsea have also expressed their interest.

You would also expect Thomas Tuchel, England’s new head coach, to have noticed Delap this season.

Tuchel will be picking his first squad soon for the national team’s opening World Cup qualifiers next month against Albania and Latvia. 

Ollie Watkins, who scored Villa’s equaliser yesterday, is the only English centre-forward to have registered more Premier League goals (11) than Delap this season. Chelsea’s Cole Palmer, another City old boy, is ahead of both with 14 but it is unlikely he will be leading the line for England in those games.

What will surely appeal to Tuchel is Delap’s versatility. He scores from long range, close range, with both feet and with his head. His shot map from across the season highlights exactly that.

Delap has a shot accuracy of just over 51 per cent, which is 10th among forwards who have played more than 900 minutes in the Premier League this season. This is better than Newcastle United’s Alexander Isak, Watkins, Jean-Philippe Mateta of Crystal Palace and Tottenham Hotspur’s Dominic Solanke.

It should not come as a surprise that his conversion rate is also high, just over 23 per cent, which places him sixth when judged by the same metrics as above. This is better than Manchester City’s Erling Haaland and Cody Gakpo of Liverpool.

GO DEEPER

What sort of football will Thomas Tuchel's England play?

“If you are going to be a striker for us in our first season back in the Premier League in 22 years, you are not going to be facing a low block in every game,” McKenna added. “In some games, we are more dominant and there are more crosses. In some games, it’s more counter-attacking, and in some games, teams play really high against us and there is space in behind. You need that balanced threat.

“It’s really good for Liam and there are not many like him in terms of the mixed threat he has.”

[mkh 748]

Chelsea’s idea was Champions League this season that’s what they want. Chelsea are planning with Enzo Maresca for the future and have already started some summer transfer meetings. Chelsea are happy with his tactics, the mentality he is giving to the team, no issues. They believe he’s the right man. (@FabrizioRomano)

[Mário César 1,475]

changing the manager will not fix our issue

our biggest problem is the board

[Blue Armour 4,710]

3 hours ago, mkh said:

Chelsea’s idea was Champions League this season that’s what they want. Chelsea are planning with Enzo Maresca for the future and have already started some summer transfer meetings. Chelsea are happy with his tactics, the mentality he is giving to the team, no issues. They believe he’s the right man. (@FabrizioRomano)

Hopefully common sense prevails.

Chopping and changing the manager every season does not help.

Neither does inaction during a transfer window. They've essentially made life more difficult for Maresca by moving out player without any reinforcements.

[Vesper 31,037]

Renato Veiga 7.6 – Superb performance from the Chelsea loanee. Tough to beat Physically and composed on the ball (88% passing accuracy via Sofascore).

MOTM as a CB

Shut down Inter in a 1 nil victory 

[Strike 7,761]

8 minutes ago, Vesper said:

Renato Veiga 7.6 – Superb performance from the Chelsea loanee. Tough to beat Physically and composed on the ball (88% passing accuracy via Sofascore).

MOTM as a CB

Shut down Inter in a 1 nil victory 

Weird how he was handled. Was a good pickup - glad it's only a dry loan. His physicality would have been of use in defense or midfield. 

[TheHulk 2,636]

1 hour ago, Vesper said:

Renato Veiga 7.6 – Superb performance from the Chelsea loanee. Tough to beat Physically and composed on the ball (88% passing accuracy via Sofascore).

MOTM as a CB

Shut down Inter in a 1 nil victory 

With each passing day we get to see more and more Maresca is nothing but a championship manager and that's it.

Edited February 16, 2025 by TheHulk

[LAM09 7,085]

2 hours ago, Strike said:

Weird how he was handled. Was a good pickup - glad it's only a dry loan. His physicality would have been of use in defense or midfield. 

His character is rare for someone his age too. If you watched any of derby, you'd have seen him shouting at his teammates. He's been there for 5 seconds and is already leading his team (I do wonder in what language, tho).

[Reddish-Blue 2,663]

11 hours ago, Strike said:

Weird how he was handled. Was a good pickup - glad it's only a dry loan. His physicality would have been of use in defense or midfield. 

It is more than a dry loan, it's an opportunity for him to prove himself to other European clubs with a view to permanent transfer.   

We're struggling in defense and we allow him to go on a dry loan in January?   Good move by his agent, put your player in the transfer window and force Chelsea to make a decision in the summer, either play him or sell him. 

[Reddish-Blue 2,663]

10 hours ago, TheHulk said:

With each passing day we get to see more and more Maresca is nothing but a championship manager and that's it.

But don't worry, we'll get to see Sancho and Nkunku walking around the pitch doing f*ck all for the rest of the season. 

[Special Juan 28,730]

Nkunku is a superb footballer, you just don't go from top quality at Leipzig to what we are seeing now...he has simply down tools since he was left on the bench for god knows how long.

He wants away and has jacked it in

[Mário César 1,475]

ofc we will lose santos and veiga

[Strike 7,761]

2 hours ago, Reddish-Blue said:

It is more than a dry loan, it's an opportunity for him to prove himself to other European clubs with a view to permanent transfer.   

We're struggling in defense and we allow him to go on a dry loan in January?   Good move by his agent, put your player in the transfer window and force Chelsea to make a decision in the summer, either play him or sell him. 

Yes, I'm just glad there's no buy option or obligation involved. He can come back and be useful for the XI

[Vesper 31,037]

5 hours ago, LAM09 said:

His character is rare for someone his age too. If you watched any of derby, you'd have seen him shouting at his teammates. He's been there for 5 seconds and is already leading his team (I do wonder in what language, tho).

He speaks 5 lauguages fluently (English, Portuguese, Spanish, French, Arabic) and passable Italian and German.

[Vytis33 1,373]

 

[OneMoSalah 9,089]

Veiga will be signed by Juventus I feel.

Clearly he is making a massive impression already and they are in the race for European football.

I think around 25m euros and a sell on clause would probably be seen as enough for the club. I’d also imagine staying at Juventus would be a massive lure, not to mention he’s played as a CB mainly since going there which is what he see’s himself as in the long run.

Definitely could have played minutes ahead of Colwill there for us but not sure what the thing was with Maresca. Reports were that it was discipline related. Then that he didn’t want the player - like many we recruited in the summer….. Or mix of both? 

Edited February 17, 2025 by OneMoSalah

[Strike 7,761]

3 hours ago, OneMoSalah said:

Veiga will be signed by Juventus I feel.

Clearly he is making a massive impression already and they are in the race for European football.

I think around 25m euros and a sell on clause would probably be seen as enough for the club. I’d also imagine staying at Juventus would be a massive lure, not to mention he’s played as a CB mainly since going there which is what he see’s himself as in the long run.

Definitely could have played minutes ahead of Colwill there for us but not sure what the thing was with Maresca. Reports were that it was discipline related. Then that he didn’t want the player - like many we recruited in the summer….. Or mix of both? 

Reintegrate Veiga and Santos into the squad in the summer. 

[mkh 748]

💭We are in serious trouble with Maresca!!!🤐🙉

🗨Last time Maresca went through a difficult run was when he was at Parma not too long ago.

Here’s a passionate assessment from a Parma fan.

Many Parma fans echoed similar sentiments at the time.

Notice how strikingly similar it is to today.

Where to start... Maresca, by now, is
totally disconnected from the reality of
the facts and each of his comments is
self-referential.

The project, set in the
summer in words, which spoke of
purposeful play and domain of the field
remained objectively only in the
comments of the coach, without any
trace on the playing field.

Here, the
further you go, the more the players
give the feeling of not knowing what to
do with the ball and also how to move
without the ball.

Some small mitigating
factors can be given to the coach,
talking about a market that is anything
but optimal, in which many young
people have still been taken from
abroad and only Coulibaly gives the
impression of being up to the task.

Of
the young people of last year, who in
theory should have been the most
prepared as they had already settled in,
are doing well, in alternating phases
only the 2 Romanians and Brunetta

Personally, I have a very annoying
feeling that Krause and Ribalta have
taken the piss out of us talking about
the championship to win and go back to
A, however, in this frustration, there is
also a lot of Maresca.

If a coach has only one game proposal
in mind, without ever considering the
slightest variation, then it means that
he is limited to the improbable and we
already had one like that last year (or
rather 2) and we know how it ended.

Mmmmhhh....l'm afraid it's more of a
systematic thing, which repeats itself
identically, with the famous marescans
story of the full-back who then goes to
be the centre of the midfield and that
when the others start again and know
that ifthey attack you on the righthe
has not yet returned to his position and
then there to defend he must go with
the results that we are seeing the
attacking outside.

I repeat . I would postpone these
experiments to later, when the
mechanism is oiled..

4 months he managed to completely
atrophy the team, that little agonism
seen in Frosinone and with Benevento
disappeared as the days went by.

There
was talk of game domination and ball
turnover but we can't even win
possession against a team in 10.

We
lost 2 months with the flying full-back
it cost us points and time and the result
was to put the full-backs back in their
place. I've never seen a team with so
little desire to win, so soft and so mean
we play as if we were due everything.

In
front you don't pass the ball even dead,
with the outsiders with inverted feet
that come back ALL the fucking times
we are very predictable and under goal
we are soft as shit.

Ah, I think the
exchange management is one of the
worst ever seen in Parma: you take
down a bad Man (the only one able to
skip the man anyway) to put on an 18-
year-old who barely walks. Mister
20mln enters and can't even hold a ball
for more than 2 seconds, regularly
anticipated and perpetually offside.

We all know how it will end, he will be
dismissed shortly after the umpteenth
defeat against a bad squad that will
surely field at least the desire to win.

Applause. Investing in a real coach who
was a football master and put the roast
before the smoke, acting as a compass
in difficult moments especially with a
team of boys, a wannabe was chosen
who as a resume only had being
Pellegrini's assistant and having a
coffee with Guardiola and that maybe
he will become a great coach but who
at the moment he has a lot to learn and
who in eight days, in addition to having
exposed strange things that are
difficult to implement at a tactical level,
he was wrapped up by almost everyone
he met. For his and our good 1 hope
they get better, but to date it's
handicap and not even for a little.

When asked if he expected to be at this
point or hoped for better, he answers "|
expected to be at this point": no game,
no results. When you say play it and
sing it alone.

This, for me, won't even centre the
playoffs and, maybe, with a crescendo
season finale, he will say: next year...
(too bad that next year we start from a
-30 M)

Ah.. for the record: he's already
starting the unloading, because he's
already said that the U23 guys feel too
much pressure to play with the Parma
shirt.

Of course it is... Krause has made a lot
of mistakes, including that of hiring
Maresca, but to think that he is really
the one who dictates the delirious
choices of the technician is bordering
on the grotesque. Unfortunately,
Enzino doesn't need councillors to do
one shit in a row, he can do it perfectly
independently...

Greetings.

but among the various shits of the
prophet there was pure that this
summer of not doing background work
to put physical preparation in the legs. I
only work with the ball.

The new prophet, all the others
are stupid..

But everyone arrives on the ball before
us and goes twice as much..

Here, there is one thing that literally
drives me crazy: since the beginning of
last year we have been athletically
inferior to ANYONE. In whatever area of
the field we arrive later on the ball, we
never manage to speed up an action, if
a ball is in the air the others take it,
ALWAYS.

We are stuffed with young
people who should be physically
overflowing, instead not only do they
not know where the fuck to go, but they
are also slow. Seeing Parma, frankly, for
a (nice) while is an agony.

This coach apparently doesn't work at
all on the players' heads, and not even
too much on the athletic aspect

A lot of technique and a bit of tactics.

That's fine if you train the chicks.

Maresca is disappointing me a lot, zero
personality, zero high pressing, zero
hunger. Strange because as a footballer
I remembered the exact opposite.

Well, but that the fish stinks from the
head reveals him ad abundantiam the
same choice of someone who to this
day is not a coach and who has been
regularly destroyed on a tactical level
by at least 7 of the opposing coaches
faced, who may not have had coffee
with Guardiola, but in their most
humble apprenticeships in the Pro
League they proved to be less arrogant
and opposing than him. Maresca is a
coach in the making, maybe he
becomes a phenomenon, but today
even poor Apolloni is his grandfather,
both tactically and in managing the
game. It's no longer his fault, but of
those who put him believing that having
done all-in with the youth teams of one
of the strongest teams in circulation
was indicative that this was a

phenomenon and even worse he is
doing in keeping him in the saddle
despite being clearly inadequate, yet
another shit beaten by this arrogant
moron..

You heard the exact same thing from Leicester City fans after Maresca left.
City's U23s have no fans⛔️⛔️

🗯The same thing is happening now at Chelsea and he has learned nothing from his previous mistakes‼️‼️

Edited February 18, 2025 by mkh

[mkh 748]

Simon Phillips reported the following yesterday:

Chelsea hierarchy unhappy and concerned with recent results

There is some pressure

Despite what you read in the media at the moment, there is certainly some pressure building at Chelsea at the moment.

The pressure is growing on Enzo Maresca to get results again.

I heard this weekend from some sources that the club's board are “unhappy and concerned” about the recent results and very disappointed that the performance of the team and Maresca has dropped off after a good start to the season.

Some at the top of the club are “confused” about the recent performances and results after what they saw as a very good start to the season.

Every club has contingency plans for coaches in case something unprecedented happens, and Chelsea are no different. It's perfectly normal for them to have a shortlist of coaches that they communicate with and keep an eye on in case they want a change.