John Terry sends message to Chelsea over Liam Delap transfer

John Terry says Chelsea should prioritise signing a ‘proven’ striker with experience if they are to make the ‘next step’ and close the gap on their rivals.

Chelsea held their nerve to secure Champions League qualification this term, but the club’s top-four finish was by no means guaranteed heading into the business end of the Premier League season.

A series of injuries to key players rocked the Blues over an extremely difficult period between Christmas and March, which saw Enzo Maresca’s men drop to sixth after a desperately poor run of results.

But Chelsea can cap off what has been a strong end to the campaign with victory over Real Betis in this evening’s Europa Conference League final in Wroclaw, Poland.

With the transfer window just around the corner, attentions have quickly turned to potential comings and goings at Stamford Bridge.

The west London giants have spent close to £1.5billion since Todd Boehly’s takeover in 2022 and yet another splurge of spending is expected this summer, with centre-forward viewed as a priority.

A host of high-profile No.9s have been linked, including Victor Osimhen, Hugo Ekitike and Viktor Gyokeres, as Chelsea look to ease the pressure on Nicolas Jackson for next season.

The latest reports suggest 22-year-old Ipswich attacker Delap is at the top of Chelsea’s wishlist, but Terry believes his former club should go down a different route.

Asked if he is an admirer of Delap, the legendary ex-Chelsea captain told talkSPORT: ‘Firstly, I think Nico [Jackson] has been really good and when I watch him play, he’s one of a handful of strikers in the league who wants to play on the shoulder.

‘Playing against that as a defender is a nightmare because it kind of stretches you and opens up that space in the midfield.

‘So I like Nico, he’s probably not been as clinical as we would like as Chelsea fans, but I think if you’re looking to go to that next step, you need to bring in someone who is proven, who has done it, who has scored goals in the Premier League.

‘That tends to be an experienced player and the owners are quite clear they’re not going to go down that route. They don’t want to bring in someone of 29, 30 years of age on big money. It’s going to be a different model and a different mindset.

‘I don’t think we’ll go down that route [of signing an experienced striker], but I personally feel we do need that.’

Delap shone in his first full season in the Premier League, netting 12 times in a struggling Ipswich side.

While Delap’s goalscoring exploits were ultimately not been enough to save Ipswich from relegation, the England Under-21 international won himself plenty of admirers with his eye-catching performances.

Manchester United and Arsenal have also both been credited with an interest in Delap, who joined the Tractor Boys from Manchester City for £20million last July.

A relegation clause in Delap’s contract at Portman Road means the forward could be on the move for just £30m this summer.

‘Liam’s looking at his options for next year, which I think he is entitled to do and we support him with that,’ Ipswich head coach Kieran McKenna said of Delap.

‘I think we have given him permission to do that this week. It’s a very important decision for his future.

‘Of course there is a lot of interest – and rightly so. I think part of his week has been having some of those conversations.

‘It looks more likely than not that he will move on this summer and he has interest from pretty much every club in the league, and I don’t think there are many clubs in the world who wouldn’t want to have him.

‘Nothing is sorted, nothing is done or completed or even very, very, very close, so that process will take its course.’

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