Former Chelsea star John Obi Mikel has raised alarm bells over new £30million signing Liam Delap.
Delap, who will be in action for the Blues at the upcoming Club World Cup, joined from relegated Ipswich Town to bolster Enzo Maresca’s attack.
But Mikel has his reservations about whether Delap can be the difference-maker his old side need to make the next step up.
He told the Standard: ‘Is he a proven goalscorer in the Premier League? Can he do it at a big club like Chelsea? That’s the question. It’s about how the manager works with him and develops him.
Mikel, who played 249 times for Chelsea between 2006 and 2017 and won the Premier League twice, pinpointed the striker he wishes Chelsea would secure.
He added: ‘With Victor Osimhen, if you want the finished article, if you want someone who can come in straight away, get you goals, win you trophies, put you in the top four, you have to pay the big bucks. That’s what the big clubs do.
Liam Delap joined Chelsea from Ipswich for £30million as their first summer signing
Enzo Maresca is preparing to lead his side in the Club World Cup in the USA
John Obi Mikel warned Chelsea they should sign a proven scorer like Victor Osimhen
‘If you want somebody to evolve over the next two, three, four years, which is what the club has done, then that also makes sense. But Chelsea Football Club’s culture is winning — straight away. If you want to win, you have to bring in a Victor Osimhen.
‘That’s how you win trophies. Because he will get you goals. Delap is a great young striker, but you have to wait and see if he’ll do it at a big club like Chelsea. Did he do it this season with Ipswich? Of course, they got relegated. So there’s so much to take in.
‘I hope he does well. But the fans and me, we would have liked to see a proven goalscorer, somebody who has done it in Italy, in Turkey, and could have come here and done it for the club straight away.’
Osimhen is valued at around £63m and there have been links with Manchester United for the Napoli star, who was loaned out to Galatasaray last season.
He was expected to move to Saudi Arabia but recent reports suggest a mooted switch to Al-Hilal is now off.
Hugo Ekitike is another striker linked with Chelsea and the club are also still looking to secure a deal for Jamie Bynoe-Gittens.
It will be fascinating to see which direction they go in and whether they heed Mikel’s advice to recruit an established star.
