Two weeks ago and Chelsea appeared to be right in the race for two of Europe's most wanted young players. Liam Delap, fresh from scoring 12 goals (and counting) for a relegated side, has admirers across the Premier League, whilst Dean Huijsen has had a breakthrough season for the ages.
Aged 20 and 22, both fit perfectly into Chelsea's youth recruitment strategy. They are also proven in England, unlike many who have been signed over the past couple of years under the sporting control of Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart.
With release clauses of £50million and around £30million respectively, they are not massive money for two players who do immediately appear to align with Chelsea's plans. With business needing to be done quickly due to the Club World Cup, being in a strong position early on could certainly make all of the difference.
However, after defeat to Newcastle United on Sunday dented the growing optimism and hope at Chelsea following three big wins in a row in the Premier League, a bad few days was to continue. By close of play on Tuesday it had emerged that both Huijsen and Delap might be getting away from Chelsea.
As is often the case with transfers, the direction of travel changes with the wind. These things cannot be taken too seriously but the general noises from Delap and Huijsen's camp were not positive for Chelsea.
Delap, it is claimed, is leaning towards a move to Manchester United. The caveat is that this appears to rely on them winning the Europa League and therefore taking the backdoor into the Champions League.
There is no guarantee that Ruben Amorim's horrendously out-of-form side will overcome Tottenham, another team in shocking domestic form at the moment. If two clubs could end up losing the same final then this would surely be it.
Chelsea had worked themselves a good avenue into Delap, though. They had started by January, looking towards the summer, knowing that Delap was unlikely to want to leave Ipswich Town in the middle of a relegation battle. He was also not going to be allowed to depart, certainly not for the sort of money that his relegation clause opens up.
Delap has more respect for Ipswich than pushing to jump ship after six months at the team who took a risk on him at £20million 12 months ago after a mixed return in the Championship. His past in the Manchester City academy, where he excelled at Under-21s level under Enzo Maresca, was still doing a lot of heavy lifting.
The goalscoring returns were not the full draw to Delap. Instead, his physicality was the most scalable thing to top flight football, and he has paid off the faith. Chelsea were aware of all of this and have the secret weapon of former City academy scout Joe Shields in their ranks.
He has already helped them sign Cole Palmer and Romeo Lavia, whilst Glenn van der Kraan has swapped the City system for Chelsea. Co-sporting director Stewart is also ex-City.
Delap is simply said to prefer a move back to the northwest. Given the effort Chelsea have clearly put in for the groundwork on Delap, it would be a blow if they did miss out on him, even if there are certainly alternatives.
Benjamin Sesko remains a player of huge interest and links to Hugo Ekitike are heating up as well. It is not that it is Delap or bust, that is for sure.
The same goes with Huijsen. Chelsea have a number of centre-backs who they like, including Marc Guehi and Ousmane Diomande. Jorrel Hato is one of the latest names to pop up in these conversations.
This will not slide with those who are tired of seeing main targets end up elsewhere. Chelsea, it will be remembered, were in for Paris Saint-Germain pair Bradley Barcola and Desire Doue. They spent an age debating what striker to go for last summer and ended up with none (outside of then-18-year-old Barcelona academy prospect Marc Guiu).
Victor Osimhen demanded too much money even for a one-season loan. Benjamin Sesko chose to stay at RB Leipzig. Ivan Toney went to Saudi Arabia. Viktor Gyokeres went nowhere. Samu Aghehowa (formerly Omorodion) was basically a done deal before it collapsed. Chelsea turned down Jhon Duran and didn't act on their interesting Jonathan David.
That is only the strikers and only the summer. Many will remember the January farce of thinking of pursuing Guehi mid-season. Alejandro Garnacho and Jamie Gittens became options. The failure of Winstanley and Stewart to address the holes in the squad (which, it should be pointed out, they created) became even more grating.
Yet, it is hard to look at Delap and Huijsen in quite the same way. The narrative can easily be that Winstanley-Stewart have fumbled two more deals (if they don't go to Chelsea) but that, in this scenario, is harsh.
Liam Delap
Liam Delap (Image: Getty Images)
Yes, the job of sporting directors is to get deals over the line and to convince prospective players to join you rather than rivals, but Huijsen really does seem to have his heart set on Madrid and that is hard to alter. As for Delap, if he would prefer a move to United then maybe some will say more fool him.
On the other hand, why is someone like Delap picking the mess of United over Chelsea in the first place? And is that reflective of how things are being run?
These are all the sorts of questions which will be asked of Winstanley and Stewart throughout the transfer window. They do not have the trust of the supporters like they do the club.
Chelsea are fully behind Winstanley and Stewart and have backed them heavily. The summer 2024 window was nothing short of a spectacular disaster, though, so it is understandable why the dissenting voices (mainly online) have turned against the directors.
A lack of January action and now seeing two clear targets possibly slip by will not change this, either. On this occasion, there is mitigation. What remains true is that Chelsea cannot afford to let losing Delap and/or Huijsen stop them from adding quality to the defence and attack in other ways.
Be that Sesko, Osimhen, Gyokeres, Guehi, or Hato, Chelsea have plenty to go at. Failing to do so after the Delap and Huijsen shift will only leave supporters even more disgruntled than they already are.
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Chelsea flag prior the UEFA Champions League Quarter Final Leg One match between Chelsea FC and Real Madrid at Stamford Bridge. (Photo by Jose Breton/Pics Action/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
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