Chelsea coach Maresca challenges Delap to earn No. 9 spot

Enzo Maresca believes Liam Delap has the potential to become England’s main striker, but warned the 22-year-old he faces a fight to get into the Chelsea line-up first.

Delap could make his Blues debut against LAFC in Monday’s FIFA Club World Cup opener in Atlanta after completing a £30 million move from Ipswich Town earlier this month.

Chelsea beat out competition from a number of clubs including Manchester United for Delap’s signature amid expectations the former Manchester City academy player could one day rival Harry Kane to lead the line for his country.

Kane is England’s captain and all-time record goalscorer with 73 goals from 107 appearances, but Maresca told reporters on Sunday: “When we faced Ipswich, before we faced Ipswich, so [when] Liam was not a Chelsea player, I said that for me, Liam, potentially, he can be England’s number nine.

“So he was not even with us. And for sure now that he’s with us, I’m going to say again that I don’t have any doubt that he can be in the future England number nine.

“[But] I never say to a players you are going to be a first choice. The message is always the same: you arrive, you work hard, you work more than the other number nine and you are going to be number nine first-choice. So the conversation with Liam has been quite clear.

“He was keen to join us because he knows the way we play, the season that we were together also we won for the first time for Manchester City the under-23 competition. He scored 24, 25 goals that season.

“So he knows exactly what we can give to him and I know what Liam can give us. So I think it’s a win-win and the conversation was quite an easy conversation. We like Liam, Liam like us, so it was an easy conversation.”

Chelsea handed Delap the club’s No. 9 shirt, which many high-profile players have struggled with in recent years including Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Romelu Lukaku, Gonzalo Higuain, Álvaro Morata and Fernando Torres.

“Liam knows quite well how important is the number nine for this club,” continued Maresca, who coached Delap during his time at City. “Personally I don’t see any problem about that. I see Liam quite relaxed, easy, he’s doing well. Since he arrived he’s working well. We know each other already from years ago, so I know what Liam can give us, he knows what we can give to him to improve and to become a better player.

“And again in terms of number nine, hopefully he can score goals for us.”

Midfielder Moisés Caicedo backed Delap to make an immediate impact during the tournament in the United States after impressing in training.

“We are happy to have him because he is a very top player,” said Caicedo. “He showed [that] last season, so we are happy. He is training really well. You can see the quality he has. For sure, we are going to score a lot of goals with this amazing player.”