Town Windfall After Delap Completes Forest Switch
Thursday, 27th Aug 2026 11:10

Nottingham Forest have completed the signing of former Blues striker Liam Delap from Chelsea with Town benefiting from the switch.

Forest are understood to have paid an initial £45 million for the 23-year-old, who has signed a five-year deal at the City Ground, rising to £50 million.

Delap left the Blues for Stamford Bridge just over a year ago for £30 million with Town understood to be due 20 per cent of the profit the West Londoners have made on his sale.

That equates to an initial £3 million, minus 20 per cent due to Manchester City, who sold him to Town in the summer of 2024, through their sell-on, which equates to £600,000.

“I’m buzzing. I really can’t wait to get started, it’s a massive club with a big history so I can’t wait,” Delap said.

“I spoke with the head coach [Oliver Glasner] and I really like his way. I think he can be the one to really help me develop and get to that next step. There’re some top players here as well and I’m looking forward to playing alongside them.”

Delap, who is reunited with former Town teammate Omari Hutchinson at Forest, reflected on his time with the Blues after a difficult season at Chelsea.

“It was probably the time when I’ve enjoyed playing football the most and I think that was when I played my best football as well. Hopefully I can recreate that here,” he said.

“I’ve spent a lot of time with Macca [former Manchester City teammate James McAtee] and it’s really helpful when you know people and I had the year with Omari as well. I think those connections will definitely help with settling in.

“Macca is one of my best mates and I think we played really well together when we were younger so I can’t wait to be on the pitch with him once more.”

On what his new fans can expect, he added: “I’m aggressive and I play with a lot of speed and aggression. Hopefully I can bring some goals here as well.

“With the new head coach I think we can build something really strong. The main aim is to challenge and be a top club in the Premier League.”

Photo: Matchday Images

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BerksBlue15 added 11:14 - Aug 27 £32.4m for Delap inc sell on versus £26m for Enciso. I think already I know which I'd rather have - it's all worked out well in the end...
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LegendofthePhoenix added 11:14 - Aug 27 Liam, there's a thing about being too aggressive you know. Try reining it in a touch, and use the skill you undoubtedly have.
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ChingShady added 11:19 - Aug 27 Make or break time for him. Time will tell.
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itfcserbia added 11:22 - Aug 27 Lol love his summary - agression first (twice), goals second, hopefully.
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Brogan55 added 11:23 - Aug 27 He will get more yellow cards than goals.
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DeliasMashedPotato added 11:23 - Aug 27 I think he will do well at forest. On the break he is immense, when he has space to drive forward. Chelseas played some very slow build up football last season which was never going to suit him. Probably would have done well here again but never at that price.
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el_granjero added 11:31 - Aug 27 Can't tell from that if he's aggressive or not. So frustrating.
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Gforce added 11:32 - Aug 27 A nice little earner,as Arthur Daley would say.
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NorthLondonBlue2 added 11:42 - Aug 27 He’s definitely a player with huge potential. I would have loved to have seen him back at Portman Road. Although a fresh start at a new club is probably the best way forward for him.
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Bazza8564 added 11:48 - Aug 27

People were wanting back here, but he was identified as having a knee issue during his season here and even if we had escaped pelegation, he would have been shipped out, albeit for more money.

No way he was ever coming back and now that Tammy Abraham, with a wealth of experience and in his prime at 28, I know what id rather have.

Fatawu, Ensisco, Maeda and Abraham as a front four backed up by McAteer, Walle_egeli, Clarke and Emersonn, yes please, thats my kind of transfer window!

mow_the_lawn added 11:49 - Aug 27 Can someone help explain why Man City got a sell on clause on this deal please? Did they not get a sell on clause when we sold him to Chelsea for £30m? I don’t understand how they’re getting a sell on clause now.
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LandOfMickyStockwell added 11:53 - Aug 27 Liam. You do what you do. Personally, I hope it is a good move, and the old Man City / Ipswich team mates help with that. Obviously, as an ex-player at another Prem team I have a different view for Ipswich's Prem survival. The extra money (whenever that arrives) = Cedric Kipre for free.
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JPR77 added 11:54 - Aug 27 Forest obviously see him as the ideal Chris Wood replacement, but the fee is laughable based on what he’s shown over the last three seasons. He’s shown us plenty of times at PR that he has the talent to be better. There’ll be plenty of pressure on him, but in a more suited environment at Forest, I expect him to flourish. Time will tell.
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Dennyx4 added 12:00 - Aug 27 Mow the lawn, Man City get 20% on any profit we made on selling Delap. As we are making a further profit on the sale, they are entitled to 20% of this portion too.
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Tractorog added 12:07 - Aug 27 I love his comment about moving to a big club, no disrespect to Forest who are a big club, but where did he think he was at Chelsea?
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bluebullet29l added 12:11 - Aug 27 Don't think he's all that to be honest. 50 million waste of money. Fouls constantly and relies on brute force only. Definitely glad we got ensico instead.
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PortmanTerrorist added 12:17 - Aug 27

What happened to once a Blue, always a Blue. Love the time he had with us, wish him nothing but the best to get his career moving forward again. You can trace all this back to Man City and the contract he had there. Were it not for that, the sell-on clause, etc he would never have ended up at Chelsea, which was never right for him. Good luck to the lad and hope him/Omari spark again....except vs us of course !

muhrensleftfoot added 12:22 - Aug 27 So if Chelsea have a 20% sell on clause, and Forest sell him at a profit some time in the future, Chelsea get their 20% percent, Ipswich get 20% of Chelsea's 20%, and Man City get a further 20% of our 20%......
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blues1 added 12:31 - Aug 27 PortmanTerrorist. How do you work out, that his contract at city, etc. had anything to do with whether he'd have ended up at Chelsea, or not? He went to chelsea due to his performances for us. Nothing to do with contracts or sell on fees for city. You're right tho, was never the right move for him at this stage of his career.
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mow_the_lawn added 12:54 - Aug 27 muhrensleftfoot - thanks. So that means the original selling club continue to make profit with every future sale of that player assuming they are always sold at a profit (even though the actual amount obviously becomes a lot smaller with more clubs and sales involved)?
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AndySav04 added 12:55 - Aug 27 Re-Unied with his old pal from Town, Omari. This is great.
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Dissboyitfc added 13:19 - Aug 27 Dennyx4 where did you hear that? Sell on clause would have been activated when he joined Chelsea and also ended when he joined Chelsea I think you’ll find!
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hoppy added 13:31 - Aug 27 It’s just basic maths, Dissboy. If we’re getting a further payment, the profit from our sale to Chelsea was a percentage of our profit at that point. If we’re getting get a further payment, that means our profit was greater, so of course they’re due a part of that too!
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