Chelsea have reportedly send scouts to watch Ipswich Town striker Liam Delap.
The Blues and Manchester United are supposedly in the race for the 22-year-old, who is set to depart Portman Road if the Tractor Boys suffer relegation.
A second-tier fate looks likely for the East Anglians, with the newcomers to the Premier League losing 4-1 to Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday afternoon.
Later on the same day, Chelsea suffered a damaging blow to their hopes of making a Champions League spot, being defeated 2-1 at Aston Villa.
Enzo Fernandez fired the Blues ahead in the opening 10 minutes, before a Marco Asensio brace for the Villans completed a turnaround for the Second City club.
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Chelsea send scouts to watch £40m Delap?
According to TBR Football, Chelsea have taken the next step in their pursuit of Ipswich and England Under-21s striker Delap ahead of the summer window.
The report claims that scouts from the West London club were in attendance at Portman Road on the weekend as the Tractor Boys lost to Spurs.
Despite a heavy defeat and his failure to find the net, Delap is said to have performed admirably, posing problems for the Lilywhites' backline.
As well as Chelsea, it is understood that Bundesliga sides Bayer Leverkusen, Eintracht Frankfurt and RB Leipzig also had scouts present in East Anglia.
With Championship football next season a distinct possibility at this stage, Ipswich are supposedly looking to pocket around £40m from the sale of Delap.
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Maresca connections
Chelsea head coach Maresca is known to be a massive admirer of Delap, who scored 27 goals in 22 matches for Manchester City's youth side under the tutelage of the Italian.
The 22-year-old and Ipswich are currently occupying 18th position in the Premier League standings, five points adrift of the relative safety of 17th.
It is extremely difficult to imagine a second-tier Tractor Boys keeping hold of Delap, who has proven his worth as a top-flight striker this season.
Carter White
