Chelsea invested heavily in attacking talent again this past summer transfer window, and while the moves for Brazilian forwards Joao Pedro and Estevao Willian could not have worked out better, the English forward duo of Jamie Bynoe-Gittens and Liam Delap have clearly not kicked on.
Delap has been getting chances at the 9 lately, and he has, quite frankly, been woeful, looking legitimately out of his depth on a top Premier League team. Maybe it is too early to give up on a player everyone was high on a year ago, but the media have been very wrong about these sorts of strikers before.
Newcastle United were interested in Delap before he chose to join Chelsea, and the Premier League top five rivals are still interested. Per a report from Newcastle beat guy Craig Hope of the Daily Mail, the Magpies are looking to sign another striker this summer and Delap is a name to watch.
Although Newcastle lost one of the top two strikers in the league in Alexander Isak to Liverpool, they added Nick Woltemade and Yoane Wissa, investing heavily in two breakout stars.
Wissa has been poor, even worse than the cynics expected, and he has no real future upside. Though Woltemade gets slack from a few uninformed talkers in the media, the young German looks like an asset.
But Woltemade needs another guy. Delap could be that answer for Newcastle. Would Chelsea sell? Honestly, they have given up on much more talented players like Kai Havertz, Noni Madueke, and Jadon Sancho upon realizing they were not going to be world class. Delap does not look like he’s going to become world class. Yes, he is young, but he has been genuinely that horrendous for Chelsea, not even doing the basics well.
Joe Soriano is the editor of The Trivela Effect and a FanSided Hall of Famer who has covered world football since 2010. He’s led top digital communities like The Real Champs (Real Madrid) and has run sites covering Tottenham, Liverpool, Juventus, and Schalke. He also helped manage NFL Spin Zone and Daily DDT, covering the NFL and pro wrestling.