It’s not often you get a manager speaking pretty openly about a transfer target, but in Chelsea’s case this week the fact that the Blues are facing Liam Delap’s Ipswich team created the perfect opportunity.
There have been links to the impressive young forward for a while, but a couple of things have really accelerated the story.
Firstly the notion put forward by several outlets that Chelsea are very happy with Nicolas Jackson and prefer to look for a backup or a complementary player rather than a bigger name to make him second choice.
Secondly, the revelation that Delap has a release clause in his contract that will allow him to move for £30m this summer, once the Tractor Boys are relegated.
Maresca was very positive about the striker:
“In terms of numbers, he’s doing fantastic. I think he’s scored 12 [Premier League] goals already. It’s not just in terms of his numbers. The way he plays and fights and is always ‘there’,” the Chelsea manager said.
“But he’s an Ipswich player. He’s an enemy on Sunday because we need to beat them, and then after the game I wish him all the best for the future.”
Chelsea preparing to take on one of their major summer targets
Maresca was also asked if he had prepared any specific plans for dealing with the rising number 9:
“It’s something we need to pay attention to, for sure. If you watch Ipswich, he is doing that against any team, not just against us. But in the first game, he was quite good for them. We need to deal with that, and we need to do much, much better compared to the first game [the loss at Ipswich].
All eyes will certainly be on the 22 year old tomorrow.
