Delap, who is available for £30m via a relegation clause that was inserted into his contract when he joined Ipswich Town last summer, has spoken to a number of clubs in the last few weeks.
The 22-year-old and his representatives met senior officials from Newcastle, with the Magpies keen to add him to their attacking ranks this summer. Delap scored an impressive 12 goals last season despite Ipswich being relegated from the top-flight.
Delap is also known to have held talks with Manchester United, Chelsea and Everton as he pondered his future, with Newcastle confident they are in a position to match whatever financial package is placed on the table by their Premier League rivals.
However, a big part of Delap’s decision-making revolves around the likelihood of him being a regular starter next season. While Newcastle and Chelsea can both offer Champions League football next term, the presence of Alexander Isak in the Magpies’ ranks is understood to have been a major factor in Delap’s thought process.
Assuming Isak remains on Tyneside and stays fit, he will start next season as Eddie Howe’s first-choice striker. With Howe wedded to a system that invariably means he starts with just one centre-forward, that would mean Delap spending much of his time on the substitutes’ bench.
While Chelsea boast Nicolas Jackson, who started their UEFA Conference League final win over Real Betis last night, the Senegal international has hardly made himself impossible to drop via his performances last season.
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Delap will justifiably feel he has every chance of forcing himself into Chelsea’s starting line-up ahead of the start of next season, and that will almost certainly have been the key factor that has tipped the balance in favour of the Blues.
The England Under-21 international still has to tie up the terms of a move to Stamford Bridge, but that should not be a problematic process, and it now looks likely that Delap will complete his Chelsea transfer in time to feature in the forthcoming Club World Cup in the United States.
Newcastle will switch their attentions elsewhere. There is a desire to strengthen at centre-forward this summer, with Callim Wilson looking likely to move on once his contract expires, but it is not a position that is currently at the top of the Magpies’ priority list, with a new goalkeeper, centre-half and right-side attacker regarded as more pressing priorities.
While Newcastle have opted not to extend Wilson’s current contract, they are willing to consider a new short-term deal for the 33-year-old that would contain much more of a ‘pay-as-you-play’ element.
However, Wilson appeared to say his goodbyes to Newcastle supporters in the wake of the final-day defeat to Everton last weekend, and is reportedly a target for both Everton and Leeds United as well as clubs in the Middle East.
