Even as they remain locked in a multi-team scrap for UEFA Champions League qualification – Liverpool and Arsenal are the only sides pretty much guaranteed a top-five finish – Chelsea are looking to strengthen their squad again in the summer. One of their main targets will be a No. 9, with their form having tailed off dramatically once Nicolas Jackson got injured.
While Lille’s Jonathan David, Eintracht Frankfurt’s Hugo Ekitike, and RB Leipzig’s Benjamin Sesko are the big names to be linked from the continent, Maresca is also likely to be keen on Liam Delap, who he coached when he was at the Manchester City academy. Delap has scored 12 goals already for an Ipswich team certain to be relegated, and is rumoured to have a 30-million-pound release clause. Like Jackson, he is physically imposing and can lead the line with aplomb.
“My perfect No.9 is exactly Nicolas Jackson,” said Maresca ahead of this weekend’s match against Ipswich. “If we can have a copy of Nico, it’s okay. I have said many times, and you can see as well, with Nico we are a better team. Nico is the one we need.”
Given his age and the likely exorbitant asking price, interest in Napoli’s Victor Osimhen – on loan at Galatasaray – has cooled a little. But with Ipswich doomed, expect Chelsea to move quickly for Delap and add to a squad already brimming with young talent.