Liam Delap Backed By Enzo Maresca As England's Future Number Nine At Chelsea

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Enzo Maresca has expressed confidence in Liam Delap's potential to become England's future number nine after his transfer to Chelsea. The striker joined the Blues from Ipswich Town for a reported fee of £30 million, signing a six-year contract at Stamford Bridge. Maresca, who previously coached Delap at Manchester City's under-21 team, is familiar with his abilities and believes he can thrive at Chelsea.

Delap concluded the 2024-25 season with an impressive tally of 12 Premier League goals. This achievement places him second only to Marcus Stewart, who scored 19 goals for Ipswich in the 2000-01 season. Delap's goal-scoring rate was notable, averaging one every 217.7 minutes in the league. He also became the youngest player to score in consecutive home Premier League matches for Ipswich since Finidi George in March 2002.

Delap's performance exceeded expectations, scoring 12 goals from an expected goals (xG) value of 9.3, resulting in an overperformance of 2.7. No other Ipswich player had an xG overperformance exceeding 0.9 during that period. This highlights Delap's efficiency and knack for finding the back of the net beyond statistical predictions.

Maresca has observed that Chelsea's new number nine is handling the transition smoothly and is poised to enhance his skills at the London club. "Liam knows quite well how important is the number nine for this club... I see him quite relaxed, easy, he's doing well," Maresca stated. He further emphasized their mutual understanding from past experiences and expressed confidence in Delap's ability to develop further.

Chelsea is set to face Los Angeles FC in their opening Club World Cup match on June 16. However, Maresca has not disclosed whether Delap will start ahead of Nicolas Jackson in this fixture. "I never say to a player you [will] be a first choice, the message is always the same: you arrive, you work hard, you work more than the other number nine [and you can be]," Maresca added.

Maresca highlighted that Delap was eager to join Chelsea due to their playing style and their successful season together when he scored 24 goals under Maresca’s guidance. The manager expressed no doubt about Delap’s potential to become England’s leading striker in future international competitions.