{"id":157634,"date":"2025-06-04T13:52:11","date_gmt":"2025-06-04T13:52:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/157634\/"},"modified":"2025-06-04T13:52:11","modified_gmt":"2025-06-04T13:52:11","slug":"john-obi-mikel-delivers-his-verdict-on-liam-delap-at-chelsea-as-he-says-victor-osimhen-now-looks-unlikely","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/157634\/","title":{"rendered":"John Obi Mikel delivers his verdict on Liam Delap at Chelsea as he says Victor Osimhen now looks unlikely"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Chelsea look set to add some much-needed attacking firepower to their squad ahead of next season.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Blues<\/a> achieved their goal of Champions League qualification and winning the Conference League, but they definitely still have some holes to fill in the squad.<\/p>\n

Apparently, Chelsea want to strengthen four key positions<\/a> to help boost Enzo Maresca\u2019s group. It looks like that will get underway with English striker Liam Delap<\/a> arriving from Ipswich Town.<\/p>\n

Even though fans are still patiently waiting for official confirmation from the club, Delap will join Chelsea on a six-year deal<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"PhotoPhoto by MI News\/NurPhoto via Getty ImagesJohn Obi Mikel reacts to Liam Delap joining Chelsea, rules out Victor Osimhen arrival<\/p>\n

John Obi Mikel<\/a>, the former Blues midfielder, has reacted positively to speculation that Delap is on his way to Chelsea. In particular, he wants to see the young centre-forward get a chance to impress at this summer\u2019s Club World Cup tournament.<\/p>\n

However, he doesn\u2019t expect to see striker Victor Osimhen<\/a> make a move to Stamford Bridge as well.<\/p>\n

Mikel told talkSPORT: \u201cEveryone knows the number nine I want us to get, and we\u2019re not getting him. We need to get Osimhen, but I don\u2019t think the club is getting him now. We\u2019ve gone a different route. We are getting Delap. I hope he comes in and helps the team as well. I want to see him in this Club World Cup. I want to see him perform. Obviously he needs to push Nicolas Jackson; the competition needs to be there.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Speaking in May, Mikel claimed Chelsea must sign Osimhen<\/a> this summer or it would be a \u201cdisaster\u201d for them. But now he doesn\u2019t think the Napoli-owned frontman, who shone on loan at Galatasaray last season, will become a Blues player.<\/p>\n\nAppearances<\/td>\nGoals<\/td>\nAssists<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n41<\/td>\n37<\/td>\n8<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

Victor Osimhen for Galatasaray across all competitions in the 2024\/25 season<\/p>\n

Even though Chelsea have discussed signing Osimhen<\/a>, his high wage demand has been mentioned as a potential stumbling block. The transfer speculation around his name has gone quiet in the last couple of weeks, too.<\/p>\n

\"PhotoPhoto by Pakawich Damrongkiattisak \u2013 FIFA\/FIFA via Getty Images<\/p>\n

As well as Delap, Chelsea are still rumoured to be after another new signing in attack.<\/p>\n

Eintracht Frankfurt striker\u00a0<\/strong>Hugo Ekitike is very keen on joining Chelsea<\/a> and is pushing for a move to the club. Apparently, sources feel confident that this is a transfer that can be concluded this summer.<\/p>\n

\"PhotoPhoto by Isa Terli\/Anadolu via Getty ImagesVictor Osimhen vs Liam Delap vs Hugo Ekitike<\/p>\n

Many Chelsea supporters, including Mikel, want to see a high-profile frontman such as Osimhen join the club to lead the line for them. The transfer strategy under this Blues ownership<\/a> is to recruit young talents, though.<\/p>\n

Here is a look at how Osimhen, Delap and Ekitike compare in their respective club careers to date.<\/p>\n\nPlayer<\/td>\nAge<\/td>\nClubs<\/td>\nAppearances<\/td>\nGoals<\/td>\nAssists<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nVictor Osimhen<\/td>\n26<\/td>\nNapoli, Galatasaray, Lille, Charleroi, Wolfsburg<\/td>\n264<\/td>\n151<\/td>\n36<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nLiam Delap<\/td>\n22<\/td>\nIpswich Town, Hull City, Stoke City, Preston North End, Manchester City<\/td>\n116<\/td>\n25<\/td>\n4<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nHugo Ekitike<\/td>\n22<\/td>\nEintracht Frankfurt, Paris Saint-Germain, Stade Reims, Vejle Boldklub<\/td>\n136<\/td>\n44<\/td>\n24<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

Records in senior club football via Transfermarkt<\/a><\/p>\n

As you can see above, Osimhen clearly has the CV to prove he\u2019s a clinical goalscorer and a top performer in European football.<\/p>\n

We hope that Delap can make the step up in West London after a decent season last year in the Premier League with Ipswich. As for Ekitike, he would need to adjust to England\u2019s top division if he does arrive from the German league.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Chelsea look set to add some much-needed attacking firepower to their squad ahead of next season. The Blues…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":157635,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4100],"tags":[94,6276,2969,79,16,15,6279],"class_list":{"0":"post-157634","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-john-obi-mikel","10":"tag-liam-delap","11":"tag-sports","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom","14":"tag-victor-osimhen"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114625429206012481","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157634","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=157634"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157634\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/157635"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=157634"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=157634"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=157634"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}