Chelsea confident that 22-year-old Premier League star can become like Cole Palmer if he completes Stamford Bridge transfer: Reports

Chelsea are reportedly confident that Liam Delap can turn out to be a signing like Cole Palmer if he joins them this summer. The Blues see the Ipswich Town striker as the ideal target as they look to bolster their squad.

As per a report in GiveMeSport, Delap is one of the main targets for Chelsea and they see him as a player who can hit the ground running. The 22-year-old has scored 10 goals and assisted twice in 28 Premier League matches for Ipswich Town since coming up earlier this season.

Enzo Maresca spoke about Delap earlier this season and claimed that the Englishman was bound to become a big striker. He worked with the youngster at Manchester City too and said via ESPN:

“Liam is a fantastic player and also for his age. I think we spent one year together and I think he scored 22, 24 goals and he is a very good striker. In England, they have many like him and they have many good players, good strikers and he's working hard off the ball, on the ball he understands the game and can score goals. And also because of his age, I think he can be an important player for England."

Apart from Delap, Chelsea are also interested in Benjamin Sesko, Alexander Isak and Viktor Gyokeres. They have also been linked with Victor Osimhen too, a striker they tried to sign last summer but failed to agree terms with Napoli.

When Liam Delap said he was focused on Ipswich Town amid interest from Chelsea

Liam Delap spoke to East Anglian Daily Times earlier this year and admitted that he is aware of interest from Premier League clubs. However, the striker insisted that he was happy at Ipswich Town and was focused on them:

"It’s so important, especially for me, to focus on where I’m at now. I’m so happy here, I’m enjoying it so much here. I just look forward to playing football. I take every game as it comes and focus on the next. It is something that I try and stay away from. People around me have told me to stay away from it, it’s something that I’m very good at in focusing on what I want to do."

"That’s playing football here. I’m really enjoying my time here and I enjoy playing every week. That’s the most important thing. We know, as players and people, that there is noise. If we have a bad game and people are slating us for not performing or getting the right results, we stay focused on ourselves and what we have to achieve."

Apart from Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal have also been linked with a move for Liam Delap. Manchester City reportedly have a £30 million buy-back clause in the forward's contract as well.