Since the new ownership took over at Chelsea, and the likes of Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart were hired as sporting directors, the Blues have implemented a new recruitment strategy which has taken the league and media world by storm.
The key focus is on acquiring young talent from around the world, aiming to identify and act upon the best talents before they spike in price.
By picking these players up early, Chelsea are able to offer lower wages, with incentivised contracts, which reward those players should they develop as they are expected to.
Cole Palmer's record at Chelsea
One transfer that epitomises Chelsea’s transfer strategy is Cole Palmer, who struggled for minutes at Manchester City, before making a move to the Blues in 2023, for a fee of around £40m with £2.5m of add-ons.
Since joining the club, the 22-year-old has turned out to be a revelation, breaking records left, right and centre, scoring 37 goals and providing 21 assists in 65 appearances, and already totalling 5,233 minutes played for the club in all competitions.
Palmer is now the creative hub for Chelsea, the star man, and a key component for Enzo Maresca, proving he wasn’t only a future investment, but one who could instantly improve the side as well. The England international is now valued at €130.00m (£108.1m) according to Transfermarkt.
If recent reports are to be believed, the Blues could be in line to repeat that trick by snapping another former Man City man…
Chelsea could land Palmer 2.0
According to the latest Transfer Dealsheet from The Athletic earlier this week, Liam Delap could be a key name on the wish list for Chelsea in the near future, as they look to bring another striker profile to the club, who can offer something different and compete with Nicolas Jackson.
This type of transfer would again epitomise the transfer strategy at Chelsea, as Delap is only currently earning £20k-per-week at Ipswich, is 21 years old, and is another highly-rated player from academy football (much like Palmer), who has already worked with Maresca.
Stats (per 90 mins)
Delap
Jackson
Goals
0.44
0.61
Assists
0.07
0.20
xG
0.31
0.61
xAG
0.09
0.13
Progressive Carries
1.77
2.09
Progressive Passes
1.13
1.28
Shots Total
2.04
3.04
Goals/Shot
0.21
0.20
Key Passes
0.99
1.08
Shot-Creating Actions
2.27
2.97
Aerial Duels Won
1.77
0.61
Danny Murphy labelled Delap as “super talented” earlier this season, even stating he is the “obvious long-term successor” to Harry Kane for England. And it isn’t just Murphy who thinks this, as Maresca himself has stated, Delap can be “an important player for England”.
When comparing Delap and Jackson, you can see that each striker offers something slightly different, with Delap winning more aerial duels, and finishing at a slightly more clinical rate (0.21 goals/shots compared to Jackson’s 0.20).
However, Jackson has more progressive actions per 90, creates more via key passes and shot-creating actions, and has provided more output this season (being in a better team has to be taken into account).
Having two strikers that both get the best out of Palmer in different ways would give Maresca all the necessary tools in the striker department in order to get the best out of his star man, utilising all of his strengths, and keeping teams guessing in terms of their approach.
With a reported price tag of around €50m (£40m), the Blues could snap up the next Kane for a relative bargain price.
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