Cobham has greater talent than Delap that Chelsea should ‘get excited about’

Chelsea returned to winning ways against Wolverhampton Wanderers in the League Cup on Wednesday evening.

It wasn’t a perfect performance from the Blues, far from it, but they were certainly the better team and scored some magnificent goals.

Plus, if Liam Delap hadn’t been sent off, Enzo Maresca’s side would probably have had a much easier time.

The former Ipswich Town star hasn’t had an easy start to life at Chelsea, and it now looks like he could soon have more competition from Cobham.

Liam Delap’s Premier League record

Chelsea paid Ipswich Town around £30 million for Delap this summer, and while his stock isn’t exactly high at the moment, it was still a great deal.

After all, during his time at Manchester City he was seen as one of the next big things, scoring 35 goals and providing nine assists in 36 appearances for their under-23 side.

What’s more, once he joined the Tractor Boys last summer, he quickly established himself as one of the most exciting young strikers in the Premier League.

For example, despite playing for a team destined for relegation, the Winchester-born poacher still managed to rack up an impressive tally of 12 goals and two assists in 37 appearances, totaling 2,616 minutes.

In other words, the Englishman managed to average a goal every 2.64 games, or every 186.85 minutes for the Suffolk side, which isn’t bad considering he had only made ten appearances in the competition for City in previous years.

However, he hasn’t been so lucky this season.

Before his hamstring injury, the summer signing made just three appearances in the competition for the Blues, including two coming off the bench, in which he failed to score or assist a goal.

He won’t even get the chance to open his account this weekend either, as his second yellow against Wolves means he is suspended for the game against Tottenham Hotspur.

Overall, Delap is a very promising player, but at a club like Chelsea, strikers don’t always get a lot of time, especially when there’s a particularly exciting striker making his way through the academy at the moment.

The Cobham star who could replace Delap

As is the case every season, Chelsea have an abundance of incredibly exciting players at Cobham this season, with Chizaram Ezenwata being one of the standouts.

The 17-year-old phenom, who U23 scout Antonio Mango says fans should “get excited about”, joined the Blues from Charlton Athletic and has already become one of the star players of the club’s U18 team.

For example, in 20 appearances last season, totaling just 1,279 minutes, the dynamic gem managed to score 12 goals and provide three assists, which equates to an average of one goal every 1.33 games, or every 91.93 minutes.

Impressively, the youngster has become even more of an offensive threat this season.

In just six appearances for the U18s, totaling 534 minutes, he has scored seven goals and provided one assist, which equates to an average of 1.33 goals per game, or one every 66.75 minutes.

In fact, the teenage goal machine has done such an incredible job at the U18s that he has now made six appearances for the U21s.

It’s not just the result that should excite fans, as it appears to be the complete package.

According to one analyst, he “has a strong physique that allows him to protect and retain the ball effectively”, and his “off-ball movement is exceptional”.

Ultimately, it’s still very early in his career, but Ezenwata seems like a very impressive prospect and someone who could compete with Delap for playing time in the years to come.