RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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Everton Eyeing £40m Chelsea Outcast Striker: But Should Moyes Say No?
Everton are reportedly in discussions over a move for Chelsea striker Liam Delap, with the Blues placing a firm £40m to £50m price tag on the 23-year-old forward, according to a report from journalist Ben Jacobs on X . Chelsea sources are holding firm at £50m, though the interested clubs, including Nottingham Forest and Leeds United, believe £40m is a more realistic conclusion to any negotiation.
Everton join race for Chelsea’s £40m outcast as Forest and Leeds also interested
Delap joined Chelsea in 2025 from Ipswich Town in a £30m deal that has, at this point, produced painfully little return. The 2025/26 season was a disaster by any honest measure: two goals, zero assists across 35 appearances in all competitions, and a solitary Premier League goal from 28 games.
New Chelsea head coach Xabi Alonso has made some decisive moves, stripping Delap of the No. 9 shirt and sending him to train away from the senior squad alongside other out-of-favour players. The message from Stamford Bridge couldn’t be clearer. Chelsea want him gone.
Delap himself apparently rejected a move to Italian club Como, preferring a return to the north of England. That personal preference narrows the field considerably, and it places Everton squarely in the frame alongside Forest and Leeds United.
T4O take: Should Everton actually do this?
HONG KONG, CHINA – AUGUST 5: Liam Delap of Chelsea FC reacts prior to the preseason friendly between Chelsea and Juventus at the Kai Tak Stadium on August 5, 2026 in Hong Kong, China. (Photo by Yu Chun Christopher Wong/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images)
No. And the numbers make that case loudly, without much room for argument.
£40m on a striker who registered one Premier League goal last season isn’t a calculated risk; it’s a reckless one. David Moyes has a long-standing admiration for Delap’s physical profile, but admiration doesn’t fill nets. Delap won just 39.1% of his total duels last season and lost possession 48 times, which means senior Premier League centre-backs handled him comfortably. For a supposed target man, that’s a damning statistic.
Everton’s PSR constraints make the financial logic worse. Their current strikers, Beto and Thierno Barry, combined for 17 goals last season, a respectable enough return that doesn’t exactly scream “we need a £40m upgrade.” Spending that kind of capital on a player Chelsea just froze out would cripple Everton’s capacity to address other urgent squad gaps. Moyes has built careers on getting the best from physical forwards, but a reclamation project at this price point, with that recent record, serves nobody at Goodison. The wiser move is to walk away.
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