Newcastle could have the last laugh after a summer of transfer snubs in their forward search
As Newcastle United scoured the transfer market in their search to sign new forwards in the summer, there were a whole host of players who could have joined the Magpies.
United were in the market for Joao Pedro and Benjamin Sesko before they opted to join Chelsea and Manchester United respectively instead.
And they were also monitoring the situation of Liam Delap, who had scored 12 goals for relegated Ipswich Town in the Premier League last season. Delap had a £30million release clause after the Tractor Boys' relegation and, ultimately, it was Chelsea who won the race for his signature.
The 22-year-old picked up a hamstring injury after just three games this season but made his comeback from the bench on Wednesday evening as Chelsea beat Wolves 4-3 in the Carabao Cup fourth round.
But Delap was sent off after just seven minutes for picking up two yellow cards. The first booking was for wrestling Yerson Mosquera to the ground and his second came after a reckless aerial challenge with Emmanuel Agbadou.
It was Chelsea's sixth red card in their last nine matches and Delap was slammed by Blues boss Enzo Maresca, who labelled his striker's conduct 'embarrassing' before suggesting his actions were selfish.
"For today we have a very a stupid red card, that was completely unnecessary, absolute it was a stupid foul, we can avoid that," Maresca said.
"I completely support and understand the red card like against Brighton and Manchester United that is difficult, but the red card against Nottingham and a red card today we can avoid that and we have to avoid that.
"It’s embarrassing when it is a red card like today. It’s embarrassing, two yellow cards in seven minutes. Both I think we can avoid.
"After the first yellow card I told him to four or five times ‘keep calm’, but he’s a player when he is inside the pitch, probably he is playing the game for himself and he struggled to realise and to listen around him."
Newcastle ended up signing Yoane Wissa and Nick Woltemade up front and while Wissa has been injured since his arrival from Brentford, Woltemade has hit the ground running.
The Magpies paid a club record £69million fee to sign him from German side Stuttgart and he has scored six goals in 11 games in all competitions.
He scored the second goal in Wednesday's 2-0 win over Tottenham which booked Newcastle's place in their fourth successive Carabao Cup quarter-final and he has quickly become a popular figure with the club's supporters.
By contrast, Delap is still waiting for his first goal of the season and now will have to win back the trust of his manager. After a summer of derision after missing out on a number of striker transfer targets, Newcastle have every right to be quietly smug about their work.