Eddie Howe & Liam Roseniorplaceholder image
Eddie Howe & Liam Rosenior | Getty Images
Transfer rumours suggest that Chelsea and Newcastle could negotiate a strange swap deal this summer.
Every summer, there are always one or two Premier League transfers which seem to defy logic and throw sand in the face of common sense. Deals which sound like they’ve been made up by some sourceless transfer reporter after a heavy drinking session, but which take place nonetheless. Now, a new story circulating this week suggests that Chelsea and Newcastle could be at the heart of one of this year’s oddities.
Specialist Chelsea journalist Simon Phillips claims that the Blues are taking a long, hard look at Nick Woltemade despite a disappointing debut season at St. James’ Park. Meanwhile, Caught Offside reckon that Newcastle’s alleged interest in Liam Delap, whose own summer move to Stamford Bridge has been even less successful, could play into negotiations – and the two sides could engineer a strange-looking swap between two players who have flopped after big-money moves.
Would swapping Nick Woltemade and Liam Delap make any sense at all?
Leaving the mechanics and economics of such a deal aside for a moment, a part-exchange deal involving Woltemade and Delap certainly seems to make more sense for one side than the other. On paper, Newcastle would surely be rather happier if such a deal took place.
The 24-year-old Woltemade has not lived up to his billing since making a club record £69m move to Tyneside last summer. A return of 10 goals in 45 games has been insufficient, but productivity hasn’t been the only problem. When operating as a number nine, he has struggled to link up with the players around him. When tried out in a deeper role, he has been more involved but found few routes to goal. He simply doesn’t seem to fit into Eddie Howe’s system.
There remains a decent chance that Howe will leave Newcastle this summer, and perhaps a new manager and a new set-up will give Woltemade a new lease of life, but it’s hard to imagine that the Magpies would put up too much resistance if they saw a chance to get their money back. If Chelsea see something in him that hasn’t been apparent to the rest of us, Newcastle may well send him on his way.
Delap has been even less successful at Chelsea, scoring just one league goal since a reported £30m was spent on him last June, and looks to be no more of a stylistic fit at Stamford Bridge than Woltemade is up in the North East. A pacy, traditional striker who flourished at Ipswich Town when playing off the shoulder of the last man, he has not meshed well with Chelsea’s less direct mode of attack.
The key difference between Delap and Woltemade is that the former has at least got a proven track record in the Premier League – and while you have to squint to see how Woltemade would improve Chelsea, it’s not too hard to imagine a rejuvenated Delap working out well at Newcastle, whose more straightforward style of play could benefit from a rapid forward who can stretch opposing defences and push them back.
Delap is also likely to come with a lower valuation, based on last season’s respective price tags. If a deal did take place, Newcastle would most likely get a player who makes a degree of tactical sense for them and some money. Chelsea, meanwhile, would get Woltemade. They would be the ones taking the larger leap of faith.
Is there any chance that Chelsea and Newcastle strike a summer deal?
It must be said that the primary sources for the most recent stories involving Chelsea’s interest in Woltemade and Newcastle’s in Delap are not typically noted as being among the most reliable – but neither story is completely fresh, and these are connections that have been made separately on a few occasions in recent months. This may not be quite as much of a flight of fancy as it seems at first glance.
If there is sufficient mutual interest in each others’ strikers to spark negotiations, then it’s unlikely that a ‘true’ swap deal would take place. The Premier League may be replacing the profit and sustainability rules, but UEFA’s financial regulations still work upon similar lines, and it makes more economic sense for sides that wish to trade players to sell them separately, even if the discussions are intrinsically linked.
Newcastle’s interest in Delap is both easier to believe and more widely attested, although they aren’t the only side said to be interested. Delap may be failing at Chelsea, but he has credit in the bank from last season and plenty of teams will be willing to bet on his potential. There is no guarantee that Newcastle come in with the best offer.
The links between Chelsea and Woltemade are more eyebrow-raising. The Blues were said to be considering a bid for him last summer before he moved to Newcastle, but the only journalist we could find who is pushing the idea of continued interest is Phillips. This isn’t the first time he’s brought the idea up since the turn of the year.
If Phillips is right to believe that Chelsea are still interested, then this may not be such a strange story after all – and Newcastle may well bid for Delap even if that half of the reporting is wayward. As it stands, however, it remains a head-scratching concept. Then again, there’s always at least one…
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