Liam Delap sent Chelsea transfer demand amid Everton links after David Moyes talks

David Moyes missed out on bringing Liam Delap to Everton last year – but the forward has been sent a Chelsea transfer message with his future uncertain

Liam Delap has been told he needs to leave Chelsea as he continues to be linked with a move to Everton. David Moyes was keen on signing Delap last summer, as the forward had a £30million release clause in his Ipswich Town contract following the club’s Premier League relegation.

While Everton held talks with the forward, he opted to join Chelsea, rejecting the chance to also to sign for Manchester United in the process. But his move to Stamford Bridge has not worked out as planned, and he scored just twice in 41 appearances in all competitions last season.

The Blues are expected to explore the striker market this summer despite the improving tallies of Beto and Thierno Barry. While Delap faces an uncertain future in the capital following the arrival of Xabi Alonso as Chelsea’s new head coach.

As a result, the former England Under-21 international has once again been linked with a move to Everton, and former Chelsea forward Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink has told the forward he needs to leave Stamford Bridge to get his career back on track.

“He needs football,” he told WhoScored’s The State of Play podcast. “He cannot have another season like he had last season at Chelsea.

“And if that means he needs to go out on loan or whatsoever, he needs to do that because he is too young to sit on the bench.

“He needs to kickstart his career again, score goals, and get that feeling again because every time he played for Chelsea, it felt a little bit like he was up against it.

“Even though I think that he’s a very good player, and even though I think he can become a top-four club kind of striker, he needs games.

“He needs to get the confidence of the manager that says, ‘Don’t worry with the first or second, just go and play’.

“And I think Chelsea’s been in a space where they couldn’t give him five games in a row because they needed goals straight away, so that’s why they have been starting with Pedro.

“And that is, in a way, the problem at a big club: you don’t get the time. You’re not going to be given five games in a row, so he needs another year where he plays 30-odd matches and from there, build on his career again.”