Courtesy of the Club World Cup, Liam Delap has already played his first 26 minutes in a Chelsea shirt, one of many talented players the Blues hope to recruit this summer.
Chelsea’s qualification for next season’s Champions League felt like a significant moment on the final day of last season, and that should be the platform for Enzo Maresca’s side to be truly competitive again.
The likes of Estevao will soon join Liam Delap at Stamford Bridge for the new season, and there’s so much reason for optimism moving forward.
Chelsea fans have already been excited by Delap in their club colours, a striker who’s already earning comparisons to Diego Costa.
And in terms of his minutes against LAFC, pundit Micah Richards had some very positive things to say as well.
Micah Richards gives his Liam Delap debut review
Richards was speaking on ‘The Rest is Football’ podcast, reviewing the action at the Club World Cup so far.
And despite sending an early text saying that Delap was ‘struggling’, the pundit eventually concluded that there were very exciting times ahead for the striker alongside players like Cole Palmer.
Richards began: “I put a message in the group saying Delap is struggling a little bit, and then two minutes later he got the assist!”
He then continued: “Obviously you want to see Delap come on and score, being English I want him to score and assist, and just play well.
“But a couple of his early touches I thought oh… it looks a bit fast out there for him, getting used to a new team, and then he grew into the game after about five or ten minutes.
Liam Delap making his debut for Chelsea during the FIFA Club World Cup clash against Los Angeles.
Photo by Michael Regan – FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images
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“His stature, he was going into pockets, getting the ball and then even when he went out wide, the delivery on the cross was outstanding for Enzo.
“I just thought that I could see these combinations working really well next season — impressive debut I thought in the end from Delap.”
And the pundit wasn’t quite done there, Richards also saw some exciting combinations on the horizon with Palmer.
He added: “Did you see his movement though, it wasn’t on the goal, I think it was a chance, there was a movement when he first came on, he went one way, he didn’t get the ball — it was Cole Palmer who actually played the ball to him and then he curved his run and I was like ‘oh, yes’, I like that, I can see them linking up very well next season.”
Nicolas Jackson still has an important role under Enzo Maresca
Praise for Delap aside, Richards also took a moment to appreciate Nicolas Jackson’s efforts in the 2-0 win.
Jackson will face more competition than ever for his number nine role at Chelsea next season.
And judging by Richards’ words, the former Villarreal striker won’t go down without a fight.
Richards said: “I thought Jackson was playing really well, obviously he’s going to have to up his game, I’ve always been a big fan of Jackson, he could score more goals obviously but his whole link up was very, very good I thought.”
It’s a very healthy situation for Maresca, the kind of positive problem he would have appreciated last year.