At a glance
- Newcastle showing interest in Chelsea striker
- Wayne Rooney claims he’s ‘finding it difficult’
- Eddie Howe’s striker issues should lead to summer signing
Newcastle United are keen to bring a new striker to St James’ Park this summer, and Liam Delap is a possible target. According to the Daily Mail, several names have been linked with a move to the Magpies, and Delap is one of them.
The 23-year-old moved to Chelsea in last summer’s transfer window from Ipswich Town. The Magpies were also interested in him last summer, but he opted to join Chelsea, where he has failed to recapture the form he showed during his debut Premier League campaign.
While Chelsea haven’t indicated that the forward is leaving just yet, he is a name being considered by Eddie Howe. A new frontman is extremely likely to be on the club’s agenda this summer.
Stamford Bridge Struggles
After an impressive debut Premier League season with Ipswich, where he scored 12 goals and registered two assists, many clubs held interest in the English forward. Chelsea won the race to sign the forward ahead of Newcastle and Manchester United, but his spell in West London hasn’t gone as planned.
Chelsea also signed Joao Pedro from Brighton & Hove Albion for £60 million last summer and he quickly hit the ground running for his new side. That includes a goal in a 3-0 win against PSG in the Club World Cup final.
The Brazilian’s form has limited Delap’s game time, and he hasn’t played particularly well when he has got his minutes, with one goal in 20 Premier League appearances.
| Liam Delap (Premier League 2025-26) | Stats |
|---|---|
| Appearances | 20 |
| Goals | 1 |
| Assists | 0 |
| Expected goals | 3.63 |
| Goal conversion | 4% |
| Shots on target per game | 0.5 |
| Succ dribbles per 90 | 0.4 |
| Aerial duels won per 90 | 1.0 |
| Big chances missed | 3 |
Former England and Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney recently spoke about Delap’s issues on BBC Sport’s The Wayne Rooney Show.
“There’s still a lot to learn and a lot to improve on. So, from that point of view, but regardless of what Delap is doing, Joao Pedro is making it very difficult for [Liam] Rosenior to leave the team.”
Pedro has scored 14 goals in the Premier League so far, which puts him fourth in the league’s top scorers this year. He is only behind Igor Thiago and City’s pair of Erling Haaland and Antoine Semenyo
The former Manchester United striker continued
“So, hopefully, he improves, and he learns that. But at the minute, yeah, I think he’s finding it difficult.”
With Pedro only a year older, Delap may believe a move away from Stamford Bridge offers his best chance to rediscover his form from his time at Ipswich.
Newcastle’s Attacking Problems
Since Alexander Isak’s departure from Tyneside last summer, Newcastle have found it hard to replace him. The Magpies broke their transfer record to sign Nick Woltemade for £69m and also paid a hefty £55m for Yoane Wissa late into the window.
Neither have stepped up to fill the void of the Swedish international. Woltemade started well at St James’ Park and even had seven league goals before Christmas.
However, he has yet to score a Premier League goal in 2026, and Eddie Howe has experimented with the German in midfield, which hasn’t benefited the former Stuttgart man.
Wissa joined with a serious injury, which kept him sidelined until December. He has only scored once in his 12 league appearances and looks a shadow of himself compared to his impressive displays at Brentford the previous year.
Newcastle are slumped down in 12th, and the lack of a consistent striker has hurt them this season. With Howe needing someone who can lead his team from the front, he may believe his best bet is to bring Delap to the club and look to try to revive his Ipswich form.
