After activating the Ipswich striker’s £30M release clause, the Blues are ready to bring in the 22-year-old who was wanted by Manchester United, Nottingham Forest, Newcastle United, Everton and several more sides who saw him as the bargain of the summer. Despite winning the race for him, however, the West London club has a huge decision to make.
Chelsea are pushing to sign Delap before the inaugural expanded summer Club World Cup, which starts in the United States on June 14th. This means that he has also been named in the England training squad ahead of the U21 Euros, which begin in Slovakia on June 11th, the dates will clash.
England U21 coach Lee Carsley will name his final 23-man squad for that tournament on June 6th which, after Delap was left out of the first team squad by manager Thomas Tuchel, should include the Ipswich striker. Governing body FIFA introduced a second transfer window this summer, open between June 1-10, so clubs can sign players before the Club World Cu,p which means Delap may be signed during that time, but they may opt out of it.
Delap is set for a medical at Chelsea in the coming days before signing a long-term contract and could be left out of the Club World Cup despite manager Enzo Maresca wanting a forward who can rival Nicolas Jackson up front. Letting him go represent England may be the right thing to do but if the Blues want to compete Maresca may make the awkward decision to keep him at the club.