It wouldn’t be a summer transfer window if Chelsea were not extremely busy, would it?
This summer, the Blues splashed over £300m on nine new senior recruits, six of whom are attackers.
Well, the recent 5-1 demolition of West Ham emphasised the attacking potential that Enzo Maresca’s side possesses, but do they have a slight issue at centre-forward, one that a Cobham graduate sold for £34m could’ve fixed had he stayed?
Chelsea's striker conundrum
During Chelsea’s controversial 2-0 West London derby victory over Fulham last weekend, Liam Delap hobbled off in the 14th minute due to a hamstring injury, and this had quite the ripple effect.
At the same time, Nicolas Jackson was in Bavaria finalising a move to Bayern Munich, only for Chelsea to pull the plug on the move, despite having frozen out the Senegalese international since the Club World Cup, saying that they could not let him go.
Jackson’s agent, Ali Barat, released an angry statement and, in the end, he did complete his move to Bayern, with the Bundesliga champions paying an extortionate £14m loan fee, with a £56.2m obligation to buy having been agreed.
Instead, the Blues decided to recall Marc Guiu from his loan at Sunderland, the Spaniard having seen just 103 minutes of action for the Black Cats, scoring against Huddersfield Town in the EFL Cup, with Chelsea having to pay a penalty fee, cutting short one of the shortest loan spells in Premier League history.
It remains to be seen how long Delap will actually be sidelined for, while the returning Guiu is far from guaranteed minutes, given that Maresca has João Pedro, Cole Palmer, Pedro Neto, Estêvão Willian, Alejandro Garnacho, Jamie Gittens, Tyrique George and others from which to choose.
Nevertheless, this whole chaotic and messy situation could’ve been avoided had Chelsea kept hold of a Cobham academy graduate once compared to the club’s greatest-ever centre-forward.
Chelsea's ideal Liam Delap back-up was sold in 2021
Tammy Abraham joined Chelsea at the age of seven, but certainly had to work hard for his place in the first team at Stamford Bridge.
Following loan spells at Bristol City, Swansea City and Aston Villa, scoring 48 goals in 78 EFL Championship appearances, his breakthrough came once Frank Lampard was appointed manager in 2019.
Abraham was Chelsea’s top scorer in 2019/20 with 18 goals, including 15 in the Premier League, before bagging 12 the following campaign, part of Thomas Tuchel’s team that won the Champions League against Manchester City at Estádio do Dragão.
That summer though, the England international was sold to Roma for £42m which makes him the fourth most expensive Chelsea academy sale of modern times, behind Mason Mount, Ian Maatsen and Conor Gallagher.
He then netted 27 goals during his first season with the Giallorossi, winning the inaugural Conference League, before suffering an anterior cruciate ligament rupture on the final day of the season against Torino, which rather hampered his progress.
Where Are They Now
Your star player or biggest flop has left the club but what are they doing in the present day? This article is part of Football FanCast’s Where Are They Now series.
Now 27, he spent last season on loan at AC Milan, scoring ten times for the Rossoneri, two of which came against Roma in the Coppa Italia, before joining Beşiktaş on loan back in July.
Well, Abraham has made a bright start to life in İstanbul, scoring six goals in eight appearances for the Black Eagles, averaging a goal every 108 minutes, including a hat-trick against St Patrick’s Athletic in a Conference League qualifier in Dublin.
At his best, speaking after a Champions League victory over Lille, Rio Ferdinand compared Abraham to Chelsea’s greatest-ever striker, asserting that much of what he produced was “Didier Drogba-esque”, praising his “hold-up play” while highlighting his “magnificent touch” and beautiful finish for his goal at Stade Pierre Mauroy.
But how do his statistics compare to those of Delap? Let’s find out.
2025/26
6
0
2024/25
10
13
2023/24
1
8
2022/23
9
4
2021/22
27
0
2020/21
12
0
2019/20
18
N/A
2018/19
26
N/A
As the table documents, given that Delap is only 22 years old, he has only ever scored 25 senior goals, yet to prove himself as a regular goalscorer, even if bagging 12 in the Premier League for a very poor Ipswich side is a noteworthy achievement.
Abraham on the other hand, aside from campaigns massively blighted by injury, has been consistent in front of goal, reaching double figures in five of the last seven full seasons, including surpassing 25 goals for both Aston Villa and Roma, making a blistering start to his Beşiktaş career last month too.
So, while Delap, who is five years younger, clearly has greater potential, Abraham would certainly have proved to be a capable deputy, given their stylistic similarities too, both physical penalty box presences who like to stay within the width of the area.
Thus, for however long Delap is on the sidelines, Abraham would’ve offered the perfect cover.
