Liam Delap scored his first Chelsea goal overnight and he lifted the lid on his blossoming relationship with one “incredible” teammate.
The England U21 international was one of Chelsea‘s first summer signings, joining the Premier League giants for around £30m from Ipswich Town after they activated his relegation release clause.
Delap made an impressive cameo off the bench in Chelsea’s opening Club World Cup group game, grabbing an assist against Los Angeles FC. He then played for 64 minutes in the loss against Flamengo, before he scored in his side’s 3-0 win over Esperance on Tuesday.
This latest result sees the Blues finish second in Group D and they will face Group C winners Benfica in the last 16 on Saturday.
Delap was assisted by Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernandez for his goal and revealed a simple piece of advice the World Cup winner gave to him before he netted his first goal for the club.
“He’s an incredible player,” Delap said on Fernandez.
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“We’ve spoken as much as we can. He’s told me to run when he gets the ball and I did. It was a great pass, and luckily it went in.”
He added: “We knew we had to win tonight to get through, and we’re pleased to get the job done.
“It’s a really happy feeling [to score] and hopefully it’s the first of many. I love playing football and to play for such a good team is a great feeling.”
Blues head coach Enzo Maresca also reserved praise for Delap as they “continue to build a winning mentality”.
“I’m very happy,” Maresca said on his side’s win.
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“We wanted the win to continue to build a winning mentality. And I think the players, they were good, and now we can think for the next one.”
On Delap, he added: “It’s a good feeling for him. It’s a good feeling for the teammates, and we are happy to have him with us.”
Pundit Micah Richards recently argued that Delap’s arrival could create problems for another Chelsea forward.
“Obviously, [Nicolas Jackson] is going to have to up his game,” Richards said.
“I’m always a big fan of Jackson, I think he could score more goals, obviously, but his whole link-up play was very, very good.
“You want to see Delap come on and score. Being English, you want him to score, assist and just play well.
“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.”