Liam Delap is a potential summer target for Newcastle, talkSPORT understands.
Delap met with Magpies boss Eddie Howe before joining Chelsea from Ipswich last summer and was impressed with the Newcastle boss.
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Chelsea are likely to be open to offers for Delap, who has scored only one Premier League goal this season.
The £40m-rated striker has struggled for form since his arrival at Stamford Bridge while injuries have also hampered his season.
Chelsea boss Liam Rosenior has relied on Joao Pedro since taking over in January with Delap playing a bit-part role.
Newcastle, meanwhile, are looking to revamp their attack despite splashing £120million on Nick Woltemade and Yoane Wissa last summer.
Newcastle boss Eddie Howe has made bolstering his attack a top priority during the summer transfer window.
The departure of Alexander Isak last summer left Howe in limbo and short of attacking options with time running out in the window.
The towering German has netted ten times since arriving on Tyneside but only once since the start of 2026.
Meanwhile, Wissa has found the net three times in 21 appearances for the Magpies this term.
The acquisitions of Woltemade and Wissa are yet to bear fruit with both players banished to the bench for both legs of Newcastle’s Champions League clashes with Barcelona.
Both players were unused substitutes during Wednesday’s 7-2 defeat at the Nou Camp.
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Woltemade is believed to be frustrated at his lack of game time, particularly in the club’s key fixtures.
Howe had opted to deploy Anthony Gordon as a false nine, while Will Osula has also been preferred of late following his last-gasp heroics against Manchester United.
Despite only joining Newcastle in August, Woltemade’s future has been consistently under the microscope.
Bayern Munich are understood to be monitoring his situation following their interest last summer.
Regardless of which players are shipped out this summer, Howe is working to identify a new striker to lead the line next season.
Former England Under-21 star Delap, impressed during his first Premier League campaign with Ipswich, scoring 12 goals in 37 appearances for the Tractor Boys.
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Newcastle were one of a host of teams interested in signing the Manchester City academy star before his move to Stamford Bridge and their interest has not cooled.
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Inside The Toon verdict
Newcastle’s interest in Delap is damning for the future of Woltemade and Wissa at the club.
Both of them have sat on the bench in recent games with Gordon and Will Osula often preferred.
Speaking on Inside The Toon, Head of Sport at The Sun, Shaun Custis, said: “We spent £120m on two blokes who just sat on the bench. We can’t go on about tiredness if we’ve got £120m worth of players just sitting there, not trusted, to take on this role to get us through.”
Newcastle fan Adam Cleary added: “We have seen this season that Woltemade has got his plus points, but he’s not a great active presser from the front of the pitch. That’s not what his game is.
“We don’t believe Wissa is, despite being a lot better at it at Brentford, but that might be down to the injury. Maybe he’s just not trusted.
“They have wasted quite a bit of money in the summer for what they need in this part of the season.”
