Nottingham Forest have made Liam Delap their most expensive signing after a late summer chase that Everton pushed hard against. The forward joined Forest on Thursday in a club-record deal worth an initial £45m, with a further £5m in add-ons taking the total to £50m, and has agreed a five-year contract at the City Ground.

Chelsea’s £20m profit on a stalled year

The move means Chelsea stand to make up to £20m profit on Delap after 12 months on their books. They signed him from Ipswich Town last summer for £30m, triggering a relegation release clause when the Suffolk club dropped out of the Premier League in 2024/25.

He made 47 appearances at Stamford Bridge but scored only three times. Everton had also pursued him in the final weeks of the window, with reports of a possible hijack circulating before Forest closed the deal.

Ipswich pocket £3m from the sell-on

Ipswich benefit too. The East Anglian Daily Times reports the club will collect around £3m from a sell-on clause built into last summer’s move to Chelsea, equal to roughly 20% of the £15m profit the London side made on the resale.

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It is a fraction of the £30m Ipswich received from Chelsea for the striker in 2025, but a rare piece of good news from a summer that began with relegation.

Sold on Glasner

Head coach Oliver Glasner was central to the pitch, and Delap said the Austrian’s approach convinced him.

“I really can’t wait to get started. This is a massive club with a big history. I spoke to the manager and I like his way. I think he can be the one to really help me develop and make that next step and hopefully I can bring goals here.”

Glasner had lost his first-choice centre-forward Taiwo Awoniyi to Coventry City earlier in the window in a £9m transfer, leaving a gap at the top of the pitch that Delap now fills.

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