Nottingham Forest Agree Club-Record £45m Transfer For Chelsea Forward

Delap was left out of Chelsea's 3-2 win over Fulham in the Premier League.

Liam Delap is on the verge of leaving Chelsea after Nottingham Forest agreed a club-record fee for the striker.

The 23-year-old is set to leave Chelsea after just one season, having joined from Ipswich Town last summer in a deal worth £30 million.

It was a difficult season for Delap at Stamford Bridge after an injury setback, and he never found his feet to perform at his best.

Despite his best efforts to remain at Chelsea to prove himself under new manager Xabi Alonso, Delap's time at the club is coming to an end.

As reported by the Daily Telegraph, Nottingham Forest have won the race for the Englishman and will pay an initial fee of around £45 million, a club record, for the striker.

It's believed add-ons will take the deal up to the £50m mark.

Forest have broken their record by £7.5m following Omari Hutchinson's £37.5m switch from Ipswich Town last summer.

Delap is expected to undergo a medical in the next 24 hours to finalise his move to the City Ground, bolstering Forest's attack after the departure of Taiwo Awoniyi to Coventry City.

Chelsea made the decision to go into the 2026-27 campaign with three strikers, with the club not qualifying for European competition this season.

Joao Pedro is the club's first-choice striker, and proved exactly why in their 3-2 opening day win over Fulham in the Premier League, scoring after just 31 seconds.

Danny Welbeck, who joined this summer from Brighton and Hove Albion, is the number two choice, with Emmanuel Emegha, another summer arrival from RC Strasbourg, being chosen as the third and final choice.

It meant Delap was surplus to requirements, as well as Nicolas Jackson and Marc Guiu, who are set to follow Delap out before the transfer deadline next week. Aston Villa are in talks for Jackson, whilst Napoli are keen on Guiu.

Given Delap's return of just two goals in 41 appearances in all competitions in 2025-26, Chelsea will be pleased with the fee they have managed to command for him. It will help balance their books after a summer of heavy spending.

Although it hasn't worked out, at £30m, Delap was low risk in terms of resale value, and it has proved it, with the club getting close to their initial £50m valuation. But both Chelsea and Delap would've hoped it worked out differently.

The writing was on the wall when Joao Pedro was handed Delap's number nine shirt. Now Delap's time at Chelsea is only a matter of days away from ending.