Chelsea urged to sign £30m Premier League star to replace transfer 'mistake'

Chelsea are braced for another summer of transfer activity (Picture: Getty)

Chelsea have been urged to pursue a move for Brentford striker Igor Thiago as a potential replacement for Liam Delap .

Delap turned down an approach from Manchester United to sign for Chelsea for £30million last summer, but has endured a difficult start to life at Stamford Bridge.

The English striker has scored two goals in 21 appearances in all competitions, with the arrival of Liam Rosenior, who he thrived under at Hull, yet to revitalise the 23-year-old’s fortunes at Stamford Bridge.

Speaking recently, Jamie Carragher suggested that Delap might have made a mistake by jumping straight to Chelsea from Ipswich.

And former Blues winger Pat Nevin admitted that Delap’s goal concern is a concern, telling TEAMtalk : ‘It’s a funny thing with Liam, because the numbers aren’t good, are they?

‘Is it one goal so far in the Premier League? Something like that, which is not what you want. You expect a lot better than that for a big-money signing.

‘And he did much better at Ipswich before the switch. But you ask Chelsea fans and they quite like him. The reason is that he works hard, and he makes space for other people. He’s one of those strikers who maybe won’t score as much.

Liam Delap has struggled since his move from Ipswich Town (Picture: Getty)

‘It’s the old Chelsea problem. Over the years, for such a long time, they spent a lot of money on centre-forwards. In the past it was slightly older ones, but it never quite worked the way they wanted, so it’s hard to see where the specific problem is. Where else do you go? Who else do you look for?

‘If you can get somebody better who is going to add more, then fine. But they’ve gone through so many. [Nicolas] Jackson in the last couple of years – you can keep going back. You can go all the way back to [Andriy] Shevchenko. So it’s been a tough position for Chelsea to get right.

‘But I suspect if they could get somebody who they felt could almost guarantee them 15 to 20 a season, they would lose Liam and they would lose anyone just to get that player.’

Igor Thiago has broken records this season (Picture: Getty)

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Should Chelsea look to reinvest their funds in the summer, Nevin wondered whether Brentford striker Thiago would tick plenty of boxes after a breakout season under Keith Andrews, which has seen him already bag 17 league goals.

‘You need to fit into Chelsea’s rules, as it were – younger players wanted now,’ he added.

‘In actual fact, how many in the world can you look at and say, right, he’s a stick-on to get 15 or 20 a season, and you’re young and you’re coming through? It just doesn’t exist, really. So it’s a tough one for them, but they’ll keep trying.

‘Given the route they’re trying just now – if there was one that was closest, it would probably be Igor Thiago. Because you look at that and think, right, okay, you’re scoring in the Premier League, and you are only 24.

‘A lot of the problem with a lot of the other players that you get — and this isn’t just Chelsea, by the way. This seriously isn’t just Chelsea. This is Manchester United as well.

‘They look around and think, yes, they scored a lot of goals in Germany or Italy. That’s different. That’s totally different; it doesn’t always translate.

‘So somebody who is currently doing it in the Premier League, maybe he’s the one.’