Blues striker Liam Delap’s £30 million move to Chelsea has been confirmed, the frontman having signed a six-year deal.

The West Londoners triggered the relegation release clause in the 22-year-old’s contract last week, the frontman having held talks with a number of interested parties during the final weeks of the season, Manchester United, Newcastle United and Everton among them.

He underwent a medical earlier this week having agreed personal terms at Stamford Bridge, which always appeared his most likely destination.

We understand Town will receive £20 million of the £30 million fee - a new club record - up front, while Delap’s former club Manchester City are due 20 per cent of the profit the Blues made on the sum they paid following the England U21 international’s move last summer.

That figure, which was initially £15 million, is understood to have nudged to around the £18 million mark with add-ons triggered over the course of the season. Town in turn will get a percentage of a future Chelsea sale.

“I understand the stature of this club and can see the trajectory it is on with these players and the head coach,” he told the Chelsea club site.

“It’s going to be an incredible place for me to develop, and I hope to achieve amazing things here and help the club win more trophies.”

On Town, he said: “I want to say a big thank-you to everyone at Ipswich Town for everything they have done for me during my time at the club.

“We didn't achieve our ultimate goal but the welcome I received and the ongoing support the manager, his staff and the supporters gave the players meant it was the perfect environment for me to play regular Premier League football for the first time in my career.

“There is so much for the club to be excited about for the guture and I’m confident it won't be long before Ipswich Town is backin the Premier League again. I’ll be supporting from afar. I'll never forget my time at the club. Thank you for everything.”

One-time Derby County academy youngster Delap made 32 starts and eight sub appearances in his one campaign with the club, scoring 12 times.

The Winchester-born frontman previously worked with Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca during his spell as U21s manager at Manchester City where he came through the ranks alongside Cole Palmer.

We understand talks with Chelsea regarding the loan of Marc Guiu in a separate deal remain ongoing.

Photo: Matchday Images

ArnieM added 21:50 - Jun 4 Cookieboy: I agree with you. Dve aldo dornt heaviliy in 20/22yrs old players at £20m per player and are they REALLY that good?? You have ask the question is Mark Ashton really all that at this level and PL. He has VERY rich backers to splash the cash. I remember Bristol fans not being thst complimentary about his transfer deals and leaving them in debt, and if you look bavk on his record at Watford, it raises some questions about his judgement. With regards to Toens dornding I fo question the high prices we've paid fir the likes of Muric ( a known car crash before we bought him do why did we buy him?). Philogene...£20m, really?? Phillips season long loan... what were his wages, and how much has he played for us? I suspect if in future years when the Americans cash in on their investment ITFC, the first one out the door will be Mark Ashton and id put my house on it gell and up working in the States! ..."Funny ole game Saint"!

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cressi added 21:51 - Jun 4 Edmundo is correct makes you wonder if all the money on a academy is worth it or follow the Brentford model.
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blues1 added 21:51 - Jun 4 Cookieboy. We got the maximum for him we possibly could, under the terms of the deal when we signed him. Terms we had no choice over. So ur point is totally irrelevant, and wrong in terms of this deal. Has happened in the past, yes. Under Evans ownership.
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churchmans added 21:55 - Jun 4 I shall be rooting for delap to be a total succsess! Whst a great player he is
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churchmans added 21:58 - Jun 4 The game is run by football agencies and management groups whose main focus is acheiving as nuch profit as possible! Thats how it is now! It is what it is
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Bert added 22:11 - Jun 4 We can only wish him well and look forward to seeing him in an England shirt. He has been helped in his career by KMcK to which he has shown his gratitude.
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timbousa added 22:23 - Jun 4 In the end, it's the best out of a difficult situation. At least there could be a big bonus when he is flipped for 150 million to Real Madrid in two years. I like the look of a Marc Guiu loan deal though. Very much the next big thing at Barcelona before he was pushed out of the running up front by some fairly decent players. To get to start for that team (and score in the Champions League) at 18 you have to have a lot of raw talent. Why not take a punt? I mean, it went so well with Giovani dos Santos back in the day ... oh.

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benslifeyt added 22:29 - Jun 4 Wish him the best of luck
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Town1Inter0 added 22:51 - Jun 4 This is the best bit of it: "Town in turn will get a percentage of a future Chelsea sale". Let's hope he's amazing and Real Madrid come in with a £150m bid for him in a few year's time! ;-)
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Town1Inter0 added 22:54 - Jun 4 Didn't see your comment Timbousa - great minds!
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WhoisJimmyJuan added 22:59 - Jun 4 Sum ov tha spilling on hear is attroshous
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timbousa added 23:11 - Jun 4 BTW Town1Inter0 - I have a clanging, name-dropping anecdote about that. I had the chance to work for a while with Christian Vieri, who scored the hat-trick against us, you may recall. He asked me what team I supported. He claimed he had never heard of "Ipsweeech". I reminded him he once scored a hat-trick against us. He didn't recall that game. I showed him the video and it jogged a vague memory. At one point he remarked, "that's Sereni, why is he there?" We asked ourselves the same question back in the day. Nice fella though, but disappointing he didn't remember this landmark moment in his career like it was yesterday. He did seem pretty pleased with his performance when watching it back, though. Also, he wasn't very adept with photocopiers. But that's another story.

1

guentchev123 added 23:22 - Jun 4 Nice words about Town from Liam Delap and nobody should have any ill feeling towards him as he moves on. He was the main reason that for half the season, we looked like we stood a chance of staying up. We all wish that we could have got the "true" fee for him but these days, the players / agents call the shots, so we / Mark Ashton had no choice.
4

MickMillsTash added 00:03 - Jun 5 Focus on the joy he gave us - Debut vs Liverpool, the run away at Brighton Villa home , smashing in from 4 inches at Spurs, Chelsea Home, Goal at Villa away- Wow, the First 5 minutes vs Tottenham home, Goal At Bournemouth Boom! etc . Without Delap last year good god we would have been a total mess. Thanks Liam, its been good for us, hope to see you in New Jersey next year smashing the French or Spanish to pieces,

1

Dissboyitfc added 06:15 - Jun 5 20 million up front, that’s a taking the p1ss, got him for a steal and still want to do HP. Same age as Ben Knight, that’s what’s a poor choice to early in your career can do, should have stayed at town, and so should have Delap but he’s gone and we move on!
2

delias_cheesy_flaps added 07:03 - Jun 5 Agreed Dissboyitfc, only Ipswich could manage not to get the full 30m quid at the point of sale!!
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Dissboyitfc added 07:05 - Jun 5 Mistakes were made this season, some signings really were not good enough! People need to go back a very short while and remember Simon Clegg or Ian Milne, there was another who’s name escapes me before slating Mark Ashton, he has played a massive part in so many of the good things we are currently witnessing! And as for listening to other fans? Listening to some of our fans talking about McKenna, some of the comments are unbelievable! IMO KM and MA are just 2 of the best things to happen at Ipswich in a very long while, mistakes have been made, let’s see what’s been learnt as we go again!

3

Bluearmy_81 added 08:00 - Jun 5 I don’t blame him for going and I mildly wish him well (not really bothered to be honest.) All this fawning adoration for a player who was here for one season then jumped ship is verging on ridiculous though imho…
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Bazza8564 added 08:44 - Jun 5 I can't wait for the championship to start again because maybe some of the nonsense on here will stop. Stage payments on transfers are almost always made, the fact we have 2/3rd up front is a bonus. And why is everybody always moaning about the young lads we've signed? O'shea, Greaves, Omari, Jack Clarke, Jaden. These guys are nowhere near the top of their development, they are all young and on long term deals with huge release clauses. Yes Delap had a great half season and caught everybody's eye. Im glad we've cashed in on him, hes OK playing lone wolf but can't link the play like Chaplin, Hirst and Szmodics. When we have the ball next season you will all see what great players we have coming through and a few will eat their words. Or simply disappear agin hoping for something to go wrong so you can all come back and grizzle....

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JewellintheTown added 08:46 - Jun 5 Some people on here play Football Manager far too much.
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Alphawhiskey added 09:19 - Jun 5 He's not the messiah, He is Liam Delap! At least our socials and feeds will be back to normal now. Good luck Liam. Maybe next time we attempt to sign someone similar, we stick a 45 million release on him....
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bluebullet29l added 09:54 - Jun 5 Let's hope it all goes horribly wrong...
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oldelsworthyfan added 10:04 - Jun 5 Maybe he'll come back here in the not-to-distant future. ITFC turned him into a star player, Man City didn't. Will Chelsea and the temptation of London nightclubs be the right place for him to progress?
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ChestnutSe added 10:47 - Jun 5 Great news for Liam and for Town. Wish him all the best and hope he does become the next Harry Kane. This is exactly the sort of result that will make it easier for Town to attract young up and coming players that can push Town on and help us build a profitable growing club
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IpswichToon added 14:19 - Jun 5 Weird to think that we’ll likely end up making more on the sell-on clause than the actual sale of Delap
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