Nottingham Forest have reached an agreement on a club-record deal valued at approximately £50m for Chelsea forward Liam Delap.
The 23-year-old is set to complete a medical before putting pen to paper on a long-term contract at the City Ground this week.
The proposed transfer comes only a year after Delap moved from Ipswich Town to Chelsea for £30m, despite interest from Manchester United and Everton.
Chelsea decided to let him leave this summer after an injury-hit campaign, involving shoulder and hamstring problems, in which he managed only one Premier League goal.
Forest have already strengthened their squad by purchasing defender Ousmane Diomande from Sporting for £34m and recruiting Austrian midfielder Xaver Schlager and goalkeeper Steve Benda on free transfers.
The club also transferred England midfielder Elliot Anderson to Manchester City for a record £116m, while forward Taiwo Awoniyi joined Coventry City in a £9m deal.
Delap would challenge Chris Wood and Igor Jesus for a place in attack after neither striker scored during Forest’s 1-0 home defeat against Leeds in Saturday’s Premier League opener.
Chelsea have added two other forwards to their squad this summer, bringing in Emmanuel Emegha from Strasbourg and Danny Welbeck from Brighton.
Delap began his development in Derby County’s academy before making the switch to Manchester City in 2019.
Following Manchester City’s FA Youth Cup triumph in 2019-20, he registered 24 goals across 20 Premier League 2 appearances as the team secured the 2020-21 championship.
The striker marked his senior Manchester City debut in September 2020 by scoring in a 2-1 League Cup victory over Bournemouth. Three days later, he made his first Premier League appearance in a 5-2 loss to Leicester.
Fitness issues restricted his opportunities with the first team, leading to Championship loan spells at Stoke, Preston North End and Hull City between 2022 and 2024.
Manchester City sold Delap to Ipswich for £20m in the summer of 2024, and he went on to score 12 times in 37 Premier League matches for the newly promoted club.
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