Chelsea can leave Pep Guardiola with egg on his face again and sign another Cole Palmer

Chelsea’s transfer chiefs have another opportunity to leave Pep Guardiola with egg on his face after the success of the Cole Palmer move.

Palmer penned an initial seven-year deal at Stamford Bridge last year, but the English starlet was rewarded with an early extension after a stellar debut season.

Across 33 league appearances last term, Palmer averaged a goal or an assist every game and earned himself the PFA Young Player of the Year award.

It’s widely regarded as the worst transfer mistake of Guardiola’s Manchester City career, but the Premier League champions could be about to lose out on another free-scoring academy product.

Liam Delap has taken well to life in the Premier League with newbies Ipswich Town, banging in an impressive six goals in 12 league matches.

Much like Palmer, he opted to leave City in the summer in search of regular game time away from the Etihad Stadium.

Delap’s showings have reportedly piqued the interests of big clubs across the country, including Chelsea, who are said to be eyeing up yet another City academy graduate.

Nicolas Jackson is yet to properly convince as Chelsea’s leading number nine and while there have been moments of brilliance for the Senegal international, there have been times he’s frustrated also.

Even still, aside from Jackson, Chelsea don’t have particularly strong depth in the striker department, with Marc Guiu young and inexperienced and Christopher Nkunku said to be open to a move away.

Chelsea moving for Delap either in January or the summer transfer window makes sense in a lot of ways.

They could find themselves with competition, especially from Delap’s former club, City, given the apparent need for an Erling Haaland backup in the Blues’ squad.

While a mid-season return to the Etihad seems unlikely for Delap, it is reported a £20million buy-back clause was inserted into his contract when agreeing on the move to Portman Road.

It’s something Chelsea could easily negate though, especially if they’re quick off the mark and offer Ipswich a fee they’d struggle to turn down for a player who is unlikely to spend long on their books anyway.

By doing so, Chelsea would be strengthening their own attack, while also leaving Guardiola sweating about another top-level, homegrown academy talent who has left the club and gone on to better things… especially when Delap is just the profile City are crying out for!