Liam Rory Delap (born 8 February 2003) is an English professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a striker for club Chelsea.

Club career

Manchester City

Delap joined

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club in Derby, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. One of the 12 founder members of the English Football ...

's academy at the age of six where he spent the next 10 years before joining

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

's academy in 2019, impressing from a young age and being capped at several youth levels with England. He scored a goal and set up two others in the final of the 2020 Under-18 Premier League Cup. In 20 appearances for the Manchester City's U23 side, Delap would score 24 goals and provide 5 assists, as the club won a record breaking league title. In all competitions, Delap achieved 36 goal contributions in 27 appearances across the season.

First team breakthrough

On 24 September 2020, Delap made his first-team debut in a 2–1 home win against

AFC Bournemouth AFC Bournemouth ( ) is a professional association football club based in Kings Park, Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England. The club compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. ...

in the

EFL Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

, scoring his first senior goal in the 18th minute. After the match, manager

Pep Guardiola Josep "Pep" Guardiola Sala (; born 18 January 1971) is a Catalans, Catalan professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player from Spain who has been the manager of club Manchester City F.C., Ma ...

praised him and confirmed Delap would continue training with the first team. Three days later, he made his

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

debut in a 5–2 home defeat by

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

, coming on as a substitute for Fernandinho in the 51st minute. In April 2021, Guardiola confirmed that Delap would be moved up to the first team permanently before the following season. Delap won his first trophy on 25 April, when City defeated

Tottenham Tottenham (, , , ) is a district in north London, England, within the London Borough of Haringey. It is located in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London. Tottenham is centred north-northeast of Charing Cross, ...

1–0 in the League Cup final at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

. Delap, however, was not selected for the squad and instead had to follow the match from the stands. During the 2021 pre-season, Delap suffered an injury to his foot, which led to him missing the Community Shield against

, which Manchester City lost 1–0, and the

2021–22 Premier League The 2021–22 Premier League was the 30th season of the Premier League, the top English professional league for association football clubs since its establishment in 1992, and the 123rd season of top-flight English football overall. The start a ...

opener against

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

, which they also lost 1–0. On 20 August, amid interest from several

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

clubs looking to loan him, Delap signed a three-year contract extension with Manchester City. Following a number of injuries, he made his first appearance of the season as a substitute in the FA Cup 3rd Round tie against

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

in February 2022, and also came on during the 4–0 win over

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club is a professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was founded in 1902. Since 1935, Norwich have played their h ...

in the Premier League, winning the penalty for the fourth goal. On 15 February 2022, Delap made his

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

debut in the first leg of the

round of 16 A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...

tie as a substitute for

Bernardo Silva Bernardo Mota Veiga de Carvalho e Silva (; born 10 August 1994) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a midfielder or right winger for club Manchester City, whom he captains, and the Portugal national team. Silva came throug ...

, in a 5–0 away win over

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (), also known as Liga Portugal Betclic for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Portugal and the highest level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga ...

champions

Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP or simply Sporting (particularly within Portugal), or as Sporting Lisbon in other countries,

Loan to Stoke City and Preston North End

On 18 August 2022, Delap joined

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, the cl ...

on loan for the 2022–23 season. He scored his first goal for Stoke in a 3–1 win over

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history ...

on 8 October 2022. After making 23 appearances for Stoke, scoring three goals, Delap was recalled by Manchester City on 12 January 2023 and was sent to

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional association football club in Preston, Lancashire, England. They currently play in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English footbal ...

for the remainder of the 2022–23 season.

Loan to Hull City

On 2 July 2023, Delap joined

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. They compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. They play their home ...

on a season long loan. He made his debut on 5 August 2023 in the 2–1 loss away to

, scoring the opening goal of the match. Delap was named Hull City's Player of the Month for December 2023.

Ipswich Town

On 13 July 2024, Delap joined newly promoted Premier League club

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. The club currently competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. Ipswich Town were founded in 1878 but did not turn ...

on a permanent deal worth up to £20 million on a five-year contract. Delap scored his first goal for the club on 31 August, netting the opener in a 1–1 draw with Fulham. On 29 September, he scored both goals in a 2–2 home draw with

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

, becoming the first Ipswich player to net twice in a Premier League game since

Marcus Bent Marcus Nathan Bent (born 19 May 1978) is an English retired professional footballer. A former England under-21 international, the journeyman striker played 573 games and scored 113 goals for 14 different clubs. His numerous transfer fees total ...

in March 2002. On 30 December, Delap scored and assisted in a 2–0 home league win over Chelsea, helping the club win their first Premier League home game since 2002 as well as their first victory over the Blues since 1993. He ended the season with 12 goals, finishing as the club's top goalscorer.

Chelsea

On 4 June 2025, fellow Premier League club Chelsea completed the signing of Delap on a six-year deal, triggering a release clause, reported to be £30m. Delap made his debut for Chelsea on 16 June in their opening game of the

2025 FIFA Club World Cup The 2025 FIFA Club World Cup (officially known as the FIFA Club World Cup 2025, also marketed as FIFA Club World Cup 25) is the 21st edition and the first of the expanded FIFA Club World Cup, an international club soccer competition organized ...

, providing an assist for

Enzo Fernández Enzo Jeremías Fernández (born 17 January 2001) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Chelsea and the Argentina national team. Primarily a central midfielder, he is also capable of playing as a defensive ...

's goal in an eventual 2–0 win over

Los Angeles FC Los Angeles Football Club (LAFC) is an American professional association football, soccer club based in Los Angeles. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. It was establi ...

. He scored his first Chelsea goal on 24 June against

Espérance Sportive de Tunis Espérance Sportive de Tunis (), known as ES Tunis or simply EST for short, is a Tunisian professional sports club founded on 15 January 1919 in the Bab Souika neighborhood of Tunis. Its football (soccer), football section has competed in th ...

in the final group match. On 19 June 2025, it was announced that Delap was one of six nominees for the PFA Young Player of the Year award.

International career

Delap has represented the nation of his birth,

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, at all youth levels but remains eligible to represent the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

at senior international level through ancestry. Delap finished as top scorer at the 2019 Mercedes-Benz Aegean Tournament for England Under-16 in Turkey and later that year went on to score twice for England U17 in a match against

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

. On 29 March 2021, Delap scored on his only appearance for the England U18 side during a 2–0 win away to

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

at Leckwith Stadium. On 23 March 2022, Delap made his U19 debut as a substitute in a 3–1 win over

during

2022 UEFA European Under-19 Championship qualification The 2022 UEFA European Under-19 Championship qualifying competition was a men's under-19 football competition that determined the seven teams joining the automatically qualified hosts Slovakia in the 2022 UEFA European Under-19 Championship final ...

Bescot Stadium Bescot Stadium, currently known as the Pallet-Track Bescot Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in the area of Bescot, Walsall, West Midlands, England, and is the current home ground of Walsall Football Club and Aston Vill ...

. On 17 June 2022, Delap was included in the England U19 squad for the

2022 UEFA European Under-19 Championship The 2022 UEFA European Under-19 Championship (also known as UEFA Under-19 Euro 2022) was the 19th edition of the UEFA European Under-19 Championship (69th edition if the Under-18 and Junior eras are included), the annual international youth associa ...

. He scored the only goal of the match in their last group fixture. On 1 July 2022, Delap came off the bench during extra time in the final and helped Aaron Ramsey score the last goal of the game as England beat

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

3–1 to win the tournament. On 21 September 2022, Delap made his

England U20 England national under-20 football team, also known as England Under-20s or England U20(s) or England Men's Elite Squad, represents England in association football at an under-20 age level and is controlled by the Football Association, the gov ...

debut and scored during a 3–0 victory over

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

at the

Pinatar Arena The Pinatar Arena is an association football stadium located in San Pedro del Pinatar, Murcia, in south-eastern Spain. The 3,000-seat stadium is part of the larger Pinatar Arena Football Center which also includes a sports club, hotel, training ...

. On 10 May 2023, Delap was included in the England squad for the

2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the 23rd edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, the biennial international men's youth Association football, football championship contested by the under-20 national teams of the member associations of FIFA, since i ...

. He started in their last group match against

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

and also came on as a second-half substitute during their round of sixteen elimination against

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. On 11 September 2023, Delap made a goalscoring debut for

England U21 The England national under-21 football team, also known as England under-21s or England U21(s), is the national under-21 association football team of England, under the control of the Football Association. It is considered to be the feeder team ...

during a 3–0

2025 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification The 2025 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification was a men's under-21 national football team competition that determined the 15 teams that joined the automatically qualified hosts Slovakia in the 2025 UEFA European Under-21 Championship ...

win away to

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

. He also scored in their next qualifier against

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

. In March 2025 Delap scored his third and last goal at under-21 level during a defeat away to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Stade du Moustoir The Stade du Moustoir - Yves Allainmat, known as the Stade du Moustoir (), is a multi-use stadium in Lorient, France. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home stadium of FC Lorient. The stadium can hold up to 18,110 with t ...

. He was included in the England training squad preparing for the

2025 UEFA European Under-21 Championship The 2025 UEFA European Under-21 Championship (also known as UEFA Under-21 Euro 2025) is the ongoing 25th edition of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship (28th edition if the Under-23 era is also included), the biennial international youth Assoc ...

however ultimately Delap was withdrawn from competing at that tournament due to club commitments.

Personal life

Delap was born in

Winchester Winchester (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs N ...

, Hampshire, and is the son of former professional footballer Rory Delap, who represented the Republic of Ireland national team. His brother is

Burton Albion Burton Albion Football Club is a professional association football club in the town of Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club moved its home g ...

player Finn Delap. His paternal grandfather and three great-uncles are originally from

Letterkenny Letterkenny ( , meaning "hillside of the O'Cannons"), nicknamed the Cathedral Town, is a large town in County Donegal, Ireland, on the River Swilly in the north-west of Ulster. Along with the nearby city of Derry, Letterkenny is a regional eco ...

County Donegal County Donegal ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county of the Republic of Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and is the northernmost county of Ireland. The county mostly borders Northern Ireland, sharing only a small b ...

while his paternal grandmother is from

Moynalty Moynalty () is a village in the north-west of County Meath in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is located at the junction of the R194 road, R194 and R164 road, R164 Regional road (Ireland), regional roads north of Kells, County Meath, Kells, n ...

County Meath County Meath ( ; or simply , ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. It is bordered by County Dublin to the southeast, County ...

Career statistics

Honours

Manchester City *

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

England U19 *

UEFA European Under-19 Championship The UEFA European Under-19 Championship, or simply the Euro Under-19, is an annual football competition, contested by the European men's under-19 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Spain is the most successful team in this competit ...

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

Individual *

Young Player of the Year: 2024–25 *Ipswich Town Players’ Player of the Year: 2024–25 *Ipswich Town Goal of the Season: 2024–25

References

External links

Profile
at the Ipswich Town F.C. website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Delap, Liam 2003 births Living people Footballers from Winchester English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Derby County F.C. players Manchester City F.C. players Stoke City F.C. players Preston North End F.C. players Hull City A.F.C. players Ipswich Town F.C. players Chelsea F.C. players Premier League players English Football League players England men's youth international footballers England men's under-21 international footballers English people of Irish descent 21st-century English sportsmen