Why Delap to Chelsea makes sense, Fernandes' £80m Saudi dilemma, Qatar's final frontier
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Hello! Chelsea when a £30m striker comes onto the market? Diving in like Michael Phelps.
On the way:
A career in its infancy? Check. A fee in the £30million ($40m) ballpark? Check. Attacking instincts? Check. Fits the criteria of offering future resale value? Check.
It takes two hands to count the clubs with designs on Liam Delap but we should have known Chelsea would go super hard on him, because he's so on brand it's untrue. Age, price range, skill set, investment potential; Delap is Chelsea's model recruit, the type of player their owners are stockpiling at Stamford Bridge.
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They're going to get him, too. The 22-year-old has been pondering his best move for months, but the end of Chelsea's season on Wednesday was his cue to tell them he was theirs for the taking — and to phone around the others letting them down. Yesterday evening, David Ornstein broke the news that everything was in place between Chelsea and Ipswich Town. The rest of the process is a formality.
There wasn't much to discuss with Ipswich anyway. Delap is the subject of a release clause standing at £30m; so low, given his stock, that his choice of alternatives was endless: Manchester United, Newcastle United, Everton, Nottingham Forest, Milan and Juventus. Nine days ago, it felt like a transfer to Old Trafford was gathering pace. But a hell of a lot has happened in nine days, at Old Trafford and beyond.
Delap to Chelsea continues a trend of this summer window resolving potentially fierce transfer skirmishes at a rate of knots. Several of the biggest are concluding or thereabouts before the window has officially opened.
Dean Huijsen to Real Madrid is complete. All bar Liverpool seem to be out of the running for Florian Wirtz. Martin Zubimendi to Arsenal isn't far off the medical stage and Delap has taken his pick. It's hard to remember Europe being this organised.
Delap's appeal is interesting because he and Ipswich have just been relegated. The market has clearly taken the attitude that a) he was blameless in their demise and b) it's been a valuable experience in cutting his teeth. Ten league goals in open play exceeded his expected goals (xG) total. The fact that his creditable figures were isolated is why Ipswich went down.
What Chelsea are getting beyond anything else is a seriously hard runner. If you've watched Delap, you'll be familiar with those lung-busting surges from deep. It's a trademark of his (and when you study the data, above, he's a major outlier in producing upfield carries).
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His profile closely matches Nicolas Jackson's, but that hasn't put Chelsea off — possibly on the basis that Jackson looks like the wrong answer at No 9 as often as he looks right. We'll wait to see how much Delap enhances them, because Chelsea's transfer returns can be very hit-and-miss.
Delap is on for a meaty pay rise, but he's also on for Champions League football, by virtue of Chelsea finishing fourth in the Premier League. It's not a stretch to think that European offerings were a factor in tipping negotiations against United.
Ruben Amorim (who, quite frankly, could do with talking less sometimes) said a matter of days ago that failing to reach the Champions League might be an 'advantage', but here's the reality: pulling power gone, a prime target getting away from him, and future plans compromised as a result.
Matheus Cunha is taking a leap of faith with United but any player with choices is liable to think twice. It's a vicious circle, and Amorim is stuck in it, with no immediate road out of the wilderness.
The thing I can never get over when I read about Qatar Sports Investment (QSI) is the price it picked Paris Saint-Germain up for in 2011: £42m. That's only just enough to pay Lamine Yamal for a year.
PSG are a billion-dollar entity now and Oli Kay is on the money today when he says that slowly, slowly, their owner got what it was looking for. Global attention on Qatar has increased (call it sportswashing if you will). The country won the right to host the 2022 World Cup. And tomorrow, PSG might finally lay their hands on the Champions League, the one club trophy QSI really cares about.
Inter stand in their way in Munich, and TAFC (in a rare flush of calling things right) is one of the few places which hasn't been underestimating Inter all season. James Horncastle has explained how the Nerazzurri peak and fall in cycles, and they're onto such a good thing with Simone Inzaghi.
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But Qatar? As Oli says, it played the long game and it will think that it won, regardless of tomorrow's result. PSG's president, Nasser Al-Khelaifi, once told The Athletic's Nick Miller that he went to Paris to 'build a brand'. Whether you like the brand or not, there's no denying he did.
🎥 This will take up 45 minutes of your time on YouTube, but it's so worth it. Let our data specialists guide you through a tactical preview of the final. I just can't see beyond PSG.
On the subject of building brands, it's a big weekend for FIFA's Club World Cup. Or a big weekend for two clubs who have a bonus chance of joining the party.
Neither Los Angeles FC nor Club America expected to be a CWC contender. Mexico's Club Leon should have been there but their expulsion for multi-club ownership reasons has pitched LAFC and Club America into a play-off, or play-in, in LA tomorrow evening. The stakes are juiced to the gills.
Here's the bottom line: the winner will bank almost $10m. They'll also be in the mix for a share of the $125m prize pot, in a group made up of Chelsea, Brazil's Flamengo and Tunisia's Esperance de Tunis. It's North America's richest game and one of them is about to win the lottery — without ever buying a ticket.
If PSG lose to Inter, they'll be the fourth club to have played in the Champions League final more than once without winning it (including the European Cup era). Can you name the other three? Look here for the answer later today, and in Monday's TAFC.
(Selected games, times ET/UK)
Friday: UEFA Women's Nations League: Group A1: Germany vs The Netherlands, 2.30pm/7.30pm — DFB Play, YouTube; Group A3: England vs Portugal, 2.45pm/7.45pm — ITV 4 (both UK only).
Saturday: UEFA Champions League final: Paris Saint-Germain vs Inter, 3pm/8pm — CBS, Paramount+, Fubo/TNT Sports; FIFA Club World Cup play-in: LAFC vs Club America, 10.30pm/3.30am — DAZN (U.S. only); International Women's Friendly: USWNT vs China, 5.30pm/10.30pm — Peacock (U.S. only); MLS: Inter Miami vs Columbus Crew, 7.30pm/12.30am; La Galaxy vs Real Salt Lake, 10.30pm/3.30am — both MLS Season Pass/Apple TV.
Sunday: MLS: Seattle Sounders vs Minnesota United, 6pm/11pm — MLS Season Pass/Apple TV.
If you're familiar with the Italian ultras scene, you'll have heard of the groups who occupy Curva A and Curva B inside Napoli's stadium. Over time, we've seen the emergence of Curva C… in the heart of New York City.
It's the nickname for a crowd of Napoli fans brought together by Rosario Procino, the owner of a pizzeria off Broadway. His restaurant, Ribalta, is a magnet for the Italian fanatics — who would have packed it out for their moment of Serie A glory last week, had a chimney fire not shut the joint down.
In the spirit of the very resourceful city of Naples, Procino stuck a big TV on the street outside, to make sure their evening wasn't spoiled. That's amore.
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