da apostaganha： While Chelsea made plenty of good signings in the summer, it would be fair to say that they’ve had mixed starts to life in West London.
da heads bet： Joao Pedro, for example, might have slowed down a little in recent weeks, but has already amassed an impressive tally of seven goal involvements.
On the other hand, Jamie Gittens has largely struggled this season and looks quite some distance off being good enough to start week in week out.
Someone who falls somewhere in the middle is Liam Delap, but if he doesn’t start performing soon, one of Cobham’s most exciting prospects could eventually take the nine shirt off his back.
Delap's start at Chelsea
When Chelsea were the ones to secure Delap’s services for around £30m in the summer, there was an understandable level of excitement from the fans.
After all, here was a young, physically imposing centre-forward who, in his first proper season of top-flight football, had just scored 12 goals and provided two assists in 37 appearances for a poor Ipswich Town side.
Expectations remained high at the Club World Cup as the former Manchester City academy ace provided an assist against LAFC and scored his first Chelsea goal against Esperance.
However, it would be fair to say that, so far, those expectations have not been met this season, as in six games, totalling 227 minutes, the 22-year-old has failed to score a goal or provide an assist.
Now, he was unfortunate to pick up a hamstring injury in the game against Fulham, but in the other games he has appeared in, he has not looked particularly threatening.
Moreover, upon his return from injury against Wolverhampton Wanderers, he stupidly got himself sent off, picking up two yellow cards in the space of 22 minutes.
With all that said, there is still plenty of time for Delap to turn things around and make this season a successful one.
However, should he continue to underwhelm, he could eventually see one of Cobham’s most exciting prospects take the nine shirt from him.
The Cobham gem who could replace Delap
When it comes to producing Premier League-quality prospects, few academies can truly rival Chelsea’s Cobham.
In The Pipeline
Football FanCast’s In the Pipeline series aims to uncover the very best youth players in world football.
There are, once again, several youngsters in the setup who could see themselves become first-team regulars over the coming seasons, and the one who could rival Delap for the number nine shirt is Chizaram Ezenwata.
The 17-year-old gem joined the Blues from Charlton Athletic in October 2023 and has established himself as one of the most dangerous attackers in the academy.
For example, in just eight appearances this season, totalling 641 minutes, the Bexley-born marksman has already scored seven goals and provided one assist, which comes out to a goal involvement every game, or every 80.12 minutes.
The youngster isn’t just on a hot streak either; in 20 appearances last season, totalling 1,279 minutes, he managed to score 12 goals and provide three assists, which works out to an average of a goal or assist every 1.33 games, or every 91.93 minutes.
Appearances
26
Minutes
1913′
Goals
19
Assists
4
Goal Involvements per Match
0.88
Minutes per Goal Involvement
83.17′
With numbers like that, it is easy to understand why U23 scout Antonio Mango has told Chelsea fans to “get excited” about his development, and why Como scout Felix Johnston has described him as someone who “lives and breathes goals.”
The young poacher isn’t just making his mark at club level either.
For example, in seven appearances for England’s u17s he scored five goals, and in five appearances for the u18s, he has already scored twice.
Ultimately, Ezenwata is unlikely to challenge Delap for a place in the team this season, but if the former Ipswich man does not improve soon, next year could be a different story entirely.
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