Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca claims Liam Delap will be England's future number nine

The new Blues signing will hope to make his debut for them tonight.

Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca says he is certain that new attacker Liam Delap will develop into a “future England number nine” as he gets ready to make his Blues bow at the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup.

Earlier in June, the 22-year-old attacker reunited with his former Manchester City academy manager by joining for £30 million from Ipswich.

Delap, who agreed to a six-year deal at Stamford Bridge, finished the previous season with 12 goals in 37 Premier League games.

I don’t have any doubt that he can be in the future England number nine: Enzo Maresca on Liam Delap

Ahead of Chelsea’s first Club World Cup matchup against Los Angeles FC, Maresca responded as follows when questioned about Liam Delap, who left England’s squad for the European Under-21 Championship to play for Chelsea in the US:

“I said Liam can be England’s number nine when we faced Ipswich. Now he is a Chelsea player, I’m going to say again, I don’t have any doubt that he can be in the future England number nine.”

“We won with Manchester City’s Under-23s – he scored 24, 25 goals that season – so he knows exactly what we can give him, I know what Liam can give us. It’s a win-win. We like Liam, Liam likes us, so it was an easy conversation.”

Together with recalled loanee Andrey Santos and new teenager additions Dario Essugo, Mamadou Sarr, and Mike Penders, Delap is one of Chelsea’s four new players.

Enzo Maresca did not specify whether Delap would start at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, but he did explain that he will have to contend with fellow attacker Nicolas Jackson for a starting spot.

Without being questioned directly, he added that the team needs a new left winger after Chelsea paid a £5 million penalty fee to avoid signing Jadon Sancho, a Manchester United loanee.

However, Delap is still a developing player as he is 22 and, to take Harry Kane’s place, the youngster will have to work hard in order to become a prolific striker. The Club World Cup present the former Ipswich centre-forward with a brilliant chance to demonstrate his calibre.

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