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LONDON: Chelsea beat off competition from Premier League rivals to sign English striker Liam Delap from Ipswich on Wednesday for a reported fee of £30 million ($41 million)
Delap, 22, scored 12 Premier League goals during his sole season at Portman Road but could not prevent Ipswich making an immediate return to the Championship.
Manchester United and Everton were also reportedly willing to meet the buyout clause in the England under-21 international’s contract.
But Chelsea have won the race for the former Manchester City forward, bolstering their attacking options ahead of the Club World Cup in the United States, starting later this month.
“I understand the stature of this club and can see the trajectory it is on with these players and the head coach,” said Delap, who has signed a six-year contract, in a Chelsea statement.
“It’s going to be an incredible place for me to develop, and I hope to achieve amazing things here and help the club win more trophies.”
The Blues finished fourth in the Premier League and will return to the Champions League next season after a two-year absence.
And Enzo Maresca’s men last week beat Real Betis 4-1 in the Conference League final to secure a trophy in the Italian manager’s first season in charge.
In mid-December Chelsea were within touching distance of eventual Premier League champions Liverpool before hitting a rocky patch.
They finished the season strongly, securing a top-five spot on the final day of the season but were hamstrung by their lack of a clinical number nine.
Senegal international Nicolas Jackson scored just 10 times in 30 Premier League appearances, while Christopher Nkunku looks set to leave the club after an underwhelming two-year spell.
Delap, the son of former Stoke midfielder Rory Delap, began his career at Manchester City but struggled to break into Pep Guardiola’s star-studded first team.
After loan spells in the second tier with Stoke, Preston and Hull, he was snapped up by Ipswich in a deal worth up to £20 million after they won promotion to the Premier League a year ago.
Delap was one of the few success stories for the Tractor Boys during a difficult season as they were relegated back to the Championship with just 22 points.
Chelsea will face Flamengo, LAFC and ES Tunis in the group stages of the Club World Cup, which gets underway on June 14.

MANAMA: ������Ƶ’s match against Bahrain on Thursday is “crucial” to their bid to qualify for the 2026 World Cup, coach Herve Renard said on Wednesday.

The away game will be followed by a showdown with Australia at King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah on Tuesday, as the third round of the qualifiers draws to a close.

The Saudis are sitting third in the six-team Group C, 10 points behind already qualified Japan and trailing Australia by three. The top two in the group qualify automatically for the finals, while those who finish third and fourth will fight it out with four other teams for the last three spots. At this point no outcome is certain for the Green Falcons, who are just four points ahead of bottom-of-the-group China.

Speaking at the prematch press conference in Manama, Renard said the Saudis must take maximum points from their remaining games.

“We have to win the six points in the next two matches,” the Frenchman said. “Knowing the outcome of the Australia-Japan match (on Thursday) in advance gives us an important psychological boost ahead of the Bahrain match, and it may also determine my final message to the players.”

The squad’s final preparations for the game were going well, he added, with a renewed spirit and clear determination among the players to perform at a level worthy of the team, despite the difficult task ahead.

The position they are in reflects the team’s stumbling start to this phase of the qualifiers, Renard said, but everyone is determined to restore balance to the team and win.