Liam Delap is expected to draw a swift conclusion to a high profile summer transfer chase and sign for Chelsea.
The 22-year-old striker, a former Stoke City loanee and the son of Stoke legend Rory, has been in huge demand after scoring 12 times in his debut Premier League campaign with Ipswich Town. A series of clubs have been ready to trigger a £30 million relegation release clause. That is double what they spent to sign him from Manchester City last year.
The Athletic claims that "sources at teams including Manchester United, Newcastle United, Everton, Nottingham Forest, AC Milan and Juventus say they are now aware he is heading elsewhere".
A move to Chelsea will mean a reunion with former Stoke key figure Andy Cousins, who was heavily involved in the deal which took Delap to Stoke on loan in 2022 and the deal which took him from Derby County to Man City in 2019, when Cousins had been in Man City's recruitment team. Cousins left Stoke during Ricky Martin's time as technical director and joined Chelsea.
Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca has previously worked with Delap too, in the Man City academy, and that was where he has played alongside Cole Palmer.
The forward has always been picked out as a potential superstar and he has been capped by England up to under-21s level. He has already entered the conversation about a senior call-up and will be hoping to work his way into Thomas Tuchel's plans for the World Cup at the end of next season.
It has been reported that Delap was keen to make a decision before he joined England for the under-21s European Championships next month. Lee Carsley's squad, including Stoke keeper Tommy Simkin, is currently on a pre-tournament training camp at St George's Park in Burton.
Ipswich manager Kieran McKenna will now be planning how to spend his transfer windfall, plus parachute payments, as he prepares for a return to the Championship - and what that means for another former Stoke loanee forward, Ali Al Hamadi.
McKenna said recently: "It looks more likely than not that he will move on this summer, and he has interest from pretty much every club in the league, and I don't think there are many clubs in the world who wouldn't want to have him. Nothing is sorted, nothing is done or completed or even very, very, very close, so that process will take its course."
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