Liam Delap may not have broken any records during his time with Chelsea but he is setting one on his way out the door. The England youth international is thought to be breaking Nottingham Forest’s transfer fee record with Oliver Glasner bringing him in for an expected £50m. The fee comes despite a disappointing 2025-26 season with the 23-year-old striker scoring only one Premier League goal.
Injury problems with his shoulder and hamstring did not help but the lack of return means the Blues were open to selling the striker and Forest have taken the bait. If Delap does sell for £50m it also means Chelsea will make a £20m profit on the player after buying him from Ipswich for £30m in 2025.
Delap isn’t the last deal Forest want to get over the line before Monday’s deadline day either as they are interested in Corinthians and Brazil midfielder André.
One story that is gathering momentum like a ball in snow is Jean-Philippe Mateta moving to Aston Villa. The Villans have made Crystal Palace an offer for the France striker but it is a long way off what the London club would like.
A departure that could finance Mateta’s move could be that of Ollie Watkins, though it is one that has shocked Villa. It has been extensively reported the English international has interest from Saudi club Al-Hilal with his signature set to be worth about £59.8m. Villa are close to agreeing the move and it is understood Watkins would have an annual salary of £12m.
With deadline day approaching, last-minute signings will come out of the woodwork at every turn. Let’s rattle through some. Manchester United are interested in Stuttgart defender Finn Jeltsch, Newcastle have submitted a bid for Lille winger Matias Fernandez-Pardo, West Ham defender El Hadji Malick Diouf may play in the Premier League again with Brentford close to a deal for the Senegalese player, newly promoted Hull have agreed a move to sign Ilyas Ansah from Union Berlin in a deal worth £20m and Tottenham are pushing to sign Omar Marmoush from Manchester City.
If Spurs did get that move over the line for the Egypt forward then the club’s spend this summer would be close to £400m. It is no wonder fans looked lost for words at Tottenham’s 3-0 loss to Brentford last weekend.
We started with Chelsea so let’s end with the Blues. Enzo Fernández, who was met with a wall of boos when Chelsea played Fulham in their opening fixture, may not play in London for much longer. Manchester City will submit a bid for the Argentina midfielder before deadline day. If they do, it could be the biggest transfer of the summer so far with Chelsea reportedly wanting £120m for the 25-year-old.
So Fernández may travel up the M1 and M6 but the boos are likely to follow him after he scored and showboated in England’s defeat to Argentina in the World Cup semi-final.
