Breaking News: Chelsea ‘add Prem striker to shortlist’ but Man City could scupper transfer plans quickly

Chelsea’s January transfer intentions are in the hands of Manchester City.

Although Pep Guardiola’s team only sold Ipswich striker Liam Delap in the summer, Chelsea is allegedly interested in him and may have to compete with Manchester City.

Delap has scored six goals in 11 appearances for the recently promoted Premier League team, making a solid start to life at Portman Road. Additionally, Enzo Maresca’s Blues are taking notice of his early work.

The Napoli striker ended up joining Galatasaray on loan, where he has also excelled in the opening few months of the season, after Chelsea failed to reach an agreement in time to add further firepower in the summer through Victor Osimhen.

With interest in Osimhen waning, I assert that Delap has suddenly become a target for Chelsea. The 21-year-old is reportedly performing well on the Blues’ sophisticated transfer analytics.

Those at Stamford Bridge have been pleased by his mobility and physical traits, but Ipswich, who are fighting relegation, would probably turn down any January bids for their top scorer.

Although Chelsea is no new to spending large sums of money, they would like to consider a younger player who would be more amenable to working under the club’s current wage structure instead of Osimhen.

The fact that Manchester City has a £20 million buyback agreement in place to bring Delap back to the Etihad, should they choose to pursue that option, may be vital for Chelsea.

There aren’t many options to replace Erling Haaland in the event that the league’s top scorer sustains an injury, and new transfer manager Hugo Viana is unlikely to want one of their competitors to be able to bolster their roster further.

City chose not to directly replace Julian Alvarez after the Argentine moved for Atletico Madrid in a summer transfer worth £82 million. The line can be led by players like Phil Foden and Oscar Bobb, but another striker would be perfect if Haaland were to miss a lot of time.

Additionally, Delap is an affordable, domestic choice. It’s unclear if he would want to go back to Manchester to cover for Haaland, but Nicolas Jackson’s stellar play at Chelsea might put him in a similar position anyhow.

Although Christopher Nkunku and Joao Felix would want to play a deeper role, Chelsea does have options if Delap returns to City or stays at Ipswich. However, Alexander Isak of Newcastle is not considered to be one of them.

Despite Chelsea and Arsenal’s interest, the Magpies are certain that their Swedish talisman is content and dedicated at St. James’ Park.

He recently restated his decision to remain at Newcastle during the international break, but no progress has been made over his contract, which expires in 2028.