Chelsea sign Liam Delap: How £30m transfer can bring best out of Cole Palmer in Enzo Maresca's side

"I was sick of getting the ball and going backwards or sideways," said Cole Palmer about Chelsea's Conference League final contest with Real Betis. And then he took the game by the scruff of the neck.

Palmer's two assists to turn his team's fortunes from 1-0 down to 2-1 up cemented his place as the key cog in this Chelsea team. When he turns up, Chelsea tend to get the points. But it hasn't always been the case.

Palmer went from 53 goals involvements in his first 54 Chelsea games to zero goals and just two assists in 12 matches, before a late season surge. Getting aggressive runners like Nicolas Jackson and Enzo Fernandez fit and firing helped - he set both players up in that European final.

And that is where Liam Delap comes in. The £30m buy from Ipswich is not just someone to boost Chelsea's firepower - he's another forward to get the best out of Chelsea's star player in Palmer.

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That's because Delap and Palmer worked together to great effect in the Man City academy. Since their U18 days, the pair played together 33 times for City or England's youth teams. They won 28 and lost just twice.

In terms of points per game, Palmer only has a better record with one player in his career - City's Bernardo Silva. His partnership with Delap is just as successful as the one he had with Rodri, who barely loses a game for Pep Guardiola's side.

"I think they're so linked because of the ability of one to serve the other," Brian Barry-Murphy, the coach who worked with both players in the Man City Elite Development Squad, tells Sky Sports.

"You'll have seen Cole speak recently about how he wants to play forward, be expressive and aggressive. Liam is the one who will be willing to make those movements.

"At City, we would always speak about Liam having no reason not to make the run because Cole will find you. And it'll be very interesting to see how that will manifest itself under Enzo Maresca."

Having efficient runners off the ball like Delap is crucial for any attacking midfielder like Palmer. We've seen it before in the Premier League.

In one of his final interviews for Manchester City, Kevin de Bruyne was asked which team-mate he had the best telepathic connection with. It surprised many to hear him say it was Raheem Sterling.

"The beauty of that relationship was Raheem's willingness to make the movement in behind because of his awareness and appreciation of Kevin's ability to find the pass," says Barry-Murphy.

"These players are not quite at that level yet based on what they achieved. But Cole has the ability to find that pass and Liam knows that he can do that - so he'll make the movements."

'A pretty destructive forward'

Chelsea found out the impact of how effective Delap can be at that when the two sides met at Portman Road in December. Delap hassled and harried the Chelsea back line, winning and scoring the first goal before setting up the creative Omari Hutchinson for the second.

It was pretty symbolic of Delap's season with Ipswich. The 22-year-old ranked second for progressive carries in the Premier League last season. Only Anthony Elanga had more.

"Liam's blessed with an extraordinary physical capacity to sprint really, really quickly," says Barry-Murphy. "And then he's a naturally skilled striker, his shots are like rockets.

"It sounds quite simple, but it makes him a pretty destructive forward and pretty difficult to play against because of his ability to be unpredictable at all times.

"I saw him against the most established or senior centre-backs and his strength is extraordinary. So they would be nervous about coming into contact with him because of how powerful he is.

"And even in training, it can be like hitting a rock when you make contact with him. And I think that generally does provide a real difficult situation for defenders when they face him."

But to describe Delap as just some battering ram would be unfair. Working at a club like City gives you a technical education like no other.

His finishing ability put him among the most clinical Premier League players last season. Delap ranked 10th for xG overperformance - i.e how many extra goals he scored compared to the quality of chance he got.

In the same metric, three out of Chelsea's first-choice front four finished in the top 10 most wasteful players in the Premier League last season. That could make him a popular player at Stamford Bridge next season.

"Creativity-wise, I think he can see things that don't seem normal," says Barry-Murphy. "He'll try something unexpected in the game that I wouldn't even imagine could be achievable.

"He's really quite cheeky. He'll definitely try things and express himself in training - that can be really infectious. And [he's] a really good player to be around as well.

"He's willing to do things that are unusual, which can be very exciting for everyone to watch."

Delap's Stamford Bridge move also reunites him with Enzo Maresca, who like Barry-Murphy worked with both players at Man City's academy.

The pair certainly hit it off in youth football. Delap scored 27 goals in 22 matches for Maresca's City B team. Only one player has scored more for the Italian in his managerial career - and that's Palmer.

"I think the beauty of this move for him is that he's going to a coach who understands him really, really well and will be looking to improve him and push him," says Barry-Murphy.

"There are parts of Liam's game that he's fully aware will need to improve under Enzo and that'll be a constant theme of how they work together."

One of them could be working on limiting that power and bringing in a sense of calmness when bearing down on goal. "One of the things that he would have worked a lot on at Man City under Pep was to be calmer in finishing situations and not rely on total force or power," adds Barry-Murphy.

"The thing for Liam was always about consistency. There are things that catch the eye and really take your breath away. So it's about trying to find consistency and to be able to produce them more often and have a meaningful impact in the game.

"It's clear that he can turn and shoot from outside the box or score spectacular goals but the possibility of scoring massive numbers from those shots is very limited based on what we see.

"And the higher up the level of competition Liam goes, he'll know that his bread and butter is finishing close to goal with one and two-touch finishes."

That can be seen in the shooting numbers - with Delap sharing a very similar record to Chelsea striker Jackson, who Maresca described as his "perfect No 9".

Both strikers scored a similar amount of Premier League goals - Delap with 12, two ahead of Jackson. But out of those 22 strikes, the forwards got one each from outside the penalty area. The rest were inside the box.

"I think what you'll have seen with Erling Haaland at Man City will translate into Liam is in this team, you have to be patient in possession and hold your position," says Barry-Murphy.

"Sometimes it means not as being heavily involved in the build-up as he may have been previously. And then obviously being in a position to finish the attacks and to occupy multiple defenders in areas where goals are scored.

"And that can mean you score natural goals or it creates a space for others to score goals, which is an important part of the way this team will function."

Delap grew up in a very talented group of youngsters in City's academy. Among his team-mates were Morgan Rogers, now starring for Aston Villa and England. Romeo Lavia was part of that team too. James McAtee also broke into City's first team this season.

None have fared as well as Palmer, though, so can Delap reach similar heights and become another City academy product to star at Stamford Bridge?

"Cole has proved that he can translate his ability into that level of competition," says Barry-Murphy. "The challenge for Liam this season will be to show that he can make those movements as often as he has done previously and to make them work against a much higher level of defender than he would have done at youth team level.

"But he's proved in this season at Ipswich that he can do it - just how often and how successfully would be the challenge from this season."

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