Former Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel claims supporters would have favoured a move for ‘finished article’ Victor Osimhen over Liam Delap this summer.
Chelsea made signing a centre-forward one of their key priorities for the transfer window, with Enzo Maresca keen to bring in support and competition for Nicolas Jackson up front.
A host of top strikers were linked with moves to Stamford Bridge before the Blues honed in on a deal for Ipswich attacker Delap, who joined the club for a fee of £30million.
Given Delap scored 12 goals in a struggling Ipswich side last season, many believe the relatively inexpensive signing could prove to be a shrewd piece of business.
And the 22-year-old is clearly desperate to make an immediate impression after turning down the chance to represent England at this summer’s European Under-21 Championship to play for Chelsea at the Club World Cup.
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But Obi Mikel has long been pushing for Chelsea to sign Osimhen and believes the striker – who has a £64m release clause at Napoli – would have made more sense given his proven pedigree and experience in the game.
‘It’s not a secret. Everybody knows who I want to come to the football club and who the fans want to see at the football club [Osimhen]. But they’ve decided to go down a different route,’ Obi Mikel told The Evening Standard.
‘I just hope that it’s going to be the right decision.
‘I like Liam Delap. He’s a good young striker who works his socks off.
‘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.’
According to Obi Mikel, Chelsea should have moved for his fellow countryman Osimhen if they had genuine ambitions to start winning major trophies ‘straight away’.
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.
‘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.’
On Delap, Obi Mikel went on: ‘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.
‘The question of what Chelsea must do better at the Club World Cup and beyond draws an immediate response.
‘Scoring goals. It is as easy as that. We were one of the teams creating the most chances, but we didn’t take them. Scoring goals is the number one priority.’
After signing on the dotted line in west London, Delap underlined his ‘hunger and desire’ to lift major silverware and steer Chelsea back to their former glory.
‘Growing up watching this club, I understand the stature of it and how incredible it has been over the years,’ Delap, a product of Manchester City’s academy, told Chelsea’s official website.
‘I wanted to come here to win trophies. When I spoke to the club, everyone wanted to get back to the very top, and they have the quality and the players to do that.
‘The hunger and desire to keep adding trophies, to take the club back to where it belongs, that is the main objective.’
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