Everton want Delap — and they've made an offer

Player

Liam Delap — 23-year-old English striker, currently contracted to Chelsea.

Current club

Chelsea. Delap spent last season on loan at Ipswich, where he did enough to remind the Premier League he exists. Whether that performance earned him a future at Stamford Bridge is a different question — and right now, the answer looks like no.

Linked club

Everton. Sean Dyche's successor inherits a squad that needs a focal point up front, and Delap — physical, direct, still with room to grow — fits the profile of a striker you build around rather than one you settle for.

Source

Football Insider, reported via CaughtOffside (29 June 2026). No corroboration from a second outlet at time of writing.

Reliability

Treat this as early-stage interest with a contract offer reportedly tabled — but Football Insider is a mid-tier outlet that leans speculative on transfer stories. One source, no Chelsea confirmation, no Romano or Athletic corroboration. File under: credible enough to watch, not close enough to book the medical.

What's being claimed

Everton have offered Delap personal terms and are pushing Chelsea for a permanent deal this summer, per the report. The implication is that Chelsea consider him surplus to requirements — a loaded phrase that does a lot of work given how many strikers Enzo Maresca is currently juggling.

What would make sense

For Everton, quite a lot. They need a striker who can carry the line and grow with the club through what should be a transitional season at their new stadium. Delap is young enough that the ceiling is still unclear — which is exactly the kind of gamble a club in Everton's position should be taking. For Chelsea, moving on a player who wasn't getting minutes is straightforward squad management. The fee, though, is the part nobody has mentioned yet.

Delap at Ipswich was the best version of Delap we've seen at senior level — hold-up play, aerial presence, a goal threat that didn't rely on service being perfect. Everton would be getting that player, not the one who sat on Chelsea's bench wondering what came next.

What still needs to happen

Chelsea need to confirm they're willing to sell — and at what price. A second source needs to corroborate the interest before this moves from rumour to reality. Everton's incoming manager will also have a view; no appointment means no guarantee this survives a change in the dugout. Plenty of moving parts. But the contract offer, if accurate, signals Everton are serious.