Chelsea fans were delighted with what they saw from summer signing Liam Delap in his first appearance for the club.
Having been left out of England’s Under-21 squad so he could play at the Club World Cup, Delap had to watch the first 64 minutes from the bench as Chelsea laboured against LAFC.
But, after replacing Nicolas Jackson, the £30 million ($41m) signing from Ipswich, helped the Blues up the intensity.
The young striker got plenty of joy pulling into the right channel and quickly threatened by driving toward the touchline and cutting a ball back that went agonisingly begging in the box.
But it was from a similar position that he subseuqently set up the crucial second goal that ensured Chelsea claimed maximum points and started the competition with a win.
What The Fan Are Saying
On X, B. wrote: “Liam Delap, I have no words. On your DEBUT? Superstar in the making.”
Dubois quickly made up their mind: “I’ve seen enough, Liam Delap is world class.”
In the eyes of CFC-Blues, Delap: “Looks the real deal”.
“Liam Delap is going to be a world-class player, mark my words,” said The Screenshot Lad.
And Simon Phillips can’t wait to see how this particular partnership unfolds: “The Cole Palmer and Liam Delap combination is going to be quite something.”
Delap replaced Jackson, who had himself assisted the opening Chelsea goal for Pedro Neto during the first half, and it seems like that is going to be a regular battle over the coming 11 months.
They might occasionally play together and the competition should drive both forward, but the likelihood is that usually only one will start.
“The message is always the same,” Enzo Maresca warned ahead of the game.
“You arrive, you work hard, you work more than the other No.9 and you’ll be No.9 first choice.
“The conversation with Liam has been quite clear.”
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The question everyone is now asking is: will Delap start Chelsea’s next game?
The Blues are up against Brazilian giants Flamengo on June 20. Jackson didn’t exactly play badly against LAFC, so if Maresca wants to stick with his usual 4-2-3-1 formation and not compromise his wingers, this is his first big decision of the next chapter.
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