Forest agree £50m deal for Chelsea striker Delap

Nottingham Forest have reached a club-record £50 million agreement to bring Chelsea forward Liam Delap into their ranks. The 23-year-old is set to undergo a medical and sign a long-term contract at the City Ground in the coming days. Delap's transfer is a year after he made the move to Chelsea from Ipswich Town for £30 million, following an intense bidding war between Manchester United and Everton.

However, Chelsea chose to make him available for sale this summer after he managed to score just one Premier League goal in a season marred by shoulder and hamstring injuries. Nottingham Forest have already bolstered their squad by signing defender Ousmane Diomande from Sporting for £34 million, as well as Austrian midfielder Xaver Schlager and goalkeeper Steve Benda on a free transfer.

They also sold Elliot Anderson to Manchester City for a club-record £116 million and striker Taiwo Awoniyi to Coventry City for £9 million. Delap's arrival could provide competition for Forest's strikers Chris Wood and Igor Jesus, who struggled to find the back of the net in Forest's 1-0 defeat to Leeds in their opening Premier League match of the season.

Chelsea have also added two more strikers this summer, Emmanuel Emegha from Strasbourg and Danny Welbeck from Brighton. Delap's career trajectory began at Derby County's youth system before he moved to Manchester City in 2019. He helped City win the FA Youth Cup in the 2019-20 season and scored 24 goals in 20 Premier League 2 matches during the 2020-21 campaign.

In September 2020, Delap made his senior City debut in a 2-1 League Cup win against Bournemouth, followed by his Premier League debut in a 5-2 defeat by Leicester. However, injuries derailed his progress, and between 2022 and 2024, he spent time on loan in the Championship with Stoke, Preston North End, and Hull City. In the summer of 2024, Delap was sold for £20 million by City to Ipswich Town, where he scored 12 goals in 37 Premier League appearances.