‘Jackson confused by Maresca’s Delap move’, ‘It will get worse’ at Chelsea
Nicolas Jackson and Liam Delap have been tipped to create a situation that only get worse at Chelsea.
Chelsea’s desire to sign a new striker in the summer window made them attentive to the services of to highly-rated England youth international Delap, who was fresh off the back of a stellar season at Ipswich Town.
The 22-year-old bagged 12 goals in 37 league outings in a relegated Ipswich team in his maiden Premier League campaign, and so Chelsea triggered Delap’s £30million release clause in his Ipswich contract to make him theirs at the start of June.
The Blues’ existing main striker, Jackson, netted 10 goals in 30 Premier League appearances last term, and so the pair are now set to battle it out and prove to Enzo Maresca that they should be his go-to man for goals in the new season.
Jackson and Delap began their teammate rivalry on Sunday (15 June) as Chelsea squared off against LAFC in the Club World Cup, and the Senegalese international was apparently not left best pleased at the situation that unfolded.
Nicolas Jackson left ‘confused’ at Enzo Maresca’s substitute decision as Liam Delap made his Chelsea debut
Jackson’s Chelsea future is in further doubt amid their interest in Frankfurt striker Hugo Ekitike, but he proved his worth to Maresca against LAFC by setting up Chelsea’s first goal with a delightful threaded through ball to Pedro Neto, who then scored at the near post.
Delap only looked to take his fellow forward’s showing in his stride, though, as he entered the pitch for Jackson in the 64th minute and was soon found by Cole Palmer on the right side of the pitch before delivering a great cross for Enzo Fernandez to score the Blues’ second, not long after almost assisting the Argentine with a cut-back at the end of a driving run down the right.
Speaking live on talkSPORT on Tuesday (17 June), pundit Troy Deeney weighed up how Maresca will have to take on the situation to keep both players happy, saying: “With Liam Delap…I think he is in a position to go and thrive, but I’m with you, I think Jackson will be the main man. I just think, when you look at it, both of them are going to expect to start. That’s the biggest thing, how do you keep them both happy?”
He was joined by Gabby Agbonlahor, who explained how he thought Jackson would have felt when being taken off the pitch against LA, and predicted the situation to only get worse, stating: “Nicolas Jackson when he was coming off (against LAFC), in the 60th minute, he was like ‘who, me? okay,’ like confused, and that will carry on. It will get worse.”
Maresca must make a decision on Delap and Jackson and stick to it
Football Insider verdict
Chelsea impressed on numerous fronts last season with Jackson as their first-choice striker for the majority of the campaign, but Delap will not have joined the club to be playing second-fiddle, and so a decision needs to be made soon by boss Maresca.
| Player | Appearances | Goals | Assists |
| Nicolas Jackson | 35 | 13 | 6 |
| Liam Delap | 41 | 12 | 3 |
Each player has their respective strengths and weaknesses, and a big positive of Jackson’s game has been that he has consistently linked up well with star man Palmer, whom the majority of the Blues’ good play is born from each week.
Delap’s debut highlighted that he could also provide a strong connection with the England international playmaker next season, though, as the two combined to set up Fernandez’ goal and the ex-Ipswich man constantly dropped deeper to receive the ball or spin off a defender, with Palmer looking to play a key pass.
Maresca will be pleased that it is only set to be a choice of two strikers, with one surely due to depart after Football Insider revealed that Christopher Nkunku could push for an exit from Chelsea soon, with Tottenham and Bayern Munich both interested in his services [talkSPORT].