‘Frustrated and angry’: the £50m striker Chelsea let go opens up on his year at Stamford Bridge, and says England is ‘100 per cent’ the dream

Liam Delap has admitted he was “frustrated and angry” at times during his difficult year at Chelsea, and says playing for England is “100 per cent” his ambition after a strong start at Nottingham Forest.

The 23-year-old joined Forest from the Blues in a £50m move in the summer. He has three Premier League goals already, which is more than he managed in the whole of the 2025-26 season at Stamford Bridge.

Two of them came in the 3-1 win over Manchester City before the international break, a result that lifted Oliver Glasner’s side out of the relegation zone.

What did Delap say about his time at Chelsea?

Delap had impressed at Ipswich Town before Chelsea paid £30m for him in June 2025. It never clicked in west London. He scored twice in 41 games in all competitions, and only one of those goals came in the Premier League.

Speaking on talkSPORT’s White and Jordan on Wednesday, he was honest about how hard that spell was.

He said: “When things don’t go so well, you learn a lot. You’re sitting there sometimes, frustrated and angry. But you’ve just got to get through those moments because football’s not a linear path. I think it grows you as a man more than anything, to be honest, just staying focused and concentrating on yourself.”

There is no bitterness in that answer, and that is a good sign for Forest. A striker who blames everyone else after a bad move tends to carry it into the next one. Delap sounds like a player who has used it.

Is Delap close to an England call-up?

Not yet. He was left out of Thomas Tuchel’s squad for the games against Croatia and Spain, so he is spending the international break at Forest. He has 14 goals in 38 appearances for England at youth level, but no senior cap.

Asked whether a senior call-up is the target, he replied: “Yeah, 100 per cent, it’s the ambition as a little kid. I’ve just got to focus on what I can control, focus on game by game at Forest, and then see what happens.”

Danny Murphy’s Euro 2028 verdict

Nine-time England international Danny Murphy, who was also on the show, thinks the door is open for the next major tournament. Qualifying for Euro 2028 starts in March, and the finals run from 9 June to 9 July 2028.

“I think Liam’s got a great chance of carrying on the way he is,” Murphy said. “If he’s playing regularly and his confidence builds, I think he’s got a great chance of being in the Euros squad.”

Harry Kane is still England’s first-choice striker, so Delap is really competing to be one of the men behind him.

Verdict: Forest’s £50m gamble already looks smart

Forest paid a big fee for a striker coming off one Premier League goal in a season. Three in the league so far, and a double against City, has already changed how that deal looks.

The England question will take care of itself if he keeps scoring. What matters more for Glasner, who is already lining up January targets, is that Delap is scoring again, because that is the one thing he never really managed at Chelsea, and Forest need his goals far more than Tuchel does right now.