Arsenal are in the market for a new striker this summer and Gary Lineker was surprised the Gunners did not appear to target new Chelsea signing Liam Delap
Gary Lineker has expressed his surprise that Arsenal overlooked Liam Delap in their quest for a new striker. The 22-year-old forward recently joined Chelsea from Ipswich Town.
The Gunners have identified signing a new number nine as a priority in the summer transfer window, with discussions underway for RB Leipzig’s Benjamin Sesko and links to Sporting CP’s Viktor Gyokeres. Manager Mikel Arteta will hope that signing a centre forward will be the key to ending the club’s over two-decade wait for a Premier League title.
While Arsenal are in the process of bringing in a striker, Chelsea swooped in to activate the £30million release clause in Delap’s Ipswich contract. Praising the move, Lineker thinks the forward should have been a top target for Arsenal.
“Delap to Chelsea, interesting one,” Lineker said on The Rest Is Football podcast. “I thought maybe Arsenal would go for him. Perhaps they did, I don’t know, but Chelsea have got their man.
“We’d said, didn’t we, many times that Chelsea needed backup for [Nicolas] Jackson up top or an alternative. I think he’s a young, exciting centre forward. I saw someone, I can’t remember who it was, said they saw a bit of a young Alan Shearer in him.
“I think that’s the only thing that Chelsea were missing. I mean, Jackson’s got something in him, but his finishing is not as good as it could be. And if Delap does realise his full potential, then that might just be the missing ingredient.”
While Lineker discussed what Delap could bring to Chelsea, it mirrors the qualities Arsenal have been lacking in equal measure. Lineker likened him to a young Shearer, and the Newcastle United legend commended the new Chelsea man’s style of play.
“I think he’s a bit old-fashioned. He’s like a throwback from what a centre forward was maybe 20, 30 years ago, where they were all in fashion,” Shearer said. “He’s always like aggressive, horrible to play against, doesn’t mind mixing it up, and obviously scores goals.
“I mean, the number of goals he scored in a really struggling team, that is only going to get better. I think at his age, the ability he’s got now, I think he’s got a really bright future and I like him.”
The 22-year-old netted 12 league goals for an Ipswich side that suffered relegation, finishing 16 points behind Tottenham Hotspur in 17th place. Meanwhile, Sesko, who is the same age as Delap, bagged 21 goals in all competitions for a Leipzig side that competed in the Champions League and narrowly missed out on the European places in the Bundesliga.
The Slovenia international has played in European competitions for the last four seasons and scored 39 goals in 87 games during his two-year spell with Leipzig. Given his more established record for a side in one of Europe’s top five leagues, combined with his potential to improve, it’s far from unreasonable for Arsenal to have opted to target him over other options.
However, any potential deal for Sesko could break Arsenal’s £60m transfer record, currently held by Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. The 22-year-old forward was previously linked with a move to the Gunners in 2024 but signed a new contract last summer, thus increasing his market value.
The absence of a consistent goalscorer at Arsenal was glaringly obvious this season. Kai Havertz led the scoring charts with just nine league goals despite a lengthy spell on the sidelines due to injury. This lack of a prolific striker played a significant role in finishing 10 points adrift of Premier League champions Liverpool.
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