Newcastle United have reportedly proposed a swap deal that would send Nick Woltemade to Chelsea and bring Liam Delap to St James’ Park.
The two strikers both endured difficult first seasons at their current clubs. Delap joined Chelsea from Ipswich Town last summer for £30million but managed only two goals and four assists in 41 appearances after injury problems.
Woltemade arrived at Newcastle from Stuttgart in a club-record deal worth up to £69million and finished with 12 goals and five assists in 54
appearances. His campaign, however, was marked by positional changes and inconsistent form after a strong start.
According to Simon Phillips, Newcastle and Chelsea have already met to discuss a few players that might go the other way this summer.
“As you know, Chelsea have an interest in Nick Woltemade, but at the moment Newcastle are keen to keep him,” Phillips said. “The other Newcastle player you know about is Lewis Hall, and our sources can confirm that Hall was discussed once again over the weekend – Chelsea are very keen to try and get him in to replace Marc Cucurella, who is expected to depart this summer. But the other two players Chelsea asked about was Sandro Tonali, and Bruno Guimaraes.”
According to The Chelsea Forum, Newcastle has changed their view of Woltemade and have proposed a Delap-Woltemade exchange. While the Blues wouldn’t reject that deal, it’s Newcastle who would demand money on top of Delap, making it hard for Chelsea to accept such a package transfer.
“Newcastle proposed a Liam Delap-Nick Woltemade swap, and Chelsea’s response was more considered than a flat no,” the account reported.
The report claims Chelsea’s internal view of Woltemade is positive, but the valuation gap is the major issue from the Magpies’ side.
“The problem is valuation,” the account added. “Chelsea would be selling a £30M striker in poor form and receiving a £75M player in return. The financial gap makes a clean swap impossible; Newcastle would need significant cash added.”
Newcastle’s interest in Delap has been reported forever, getting all the way back to last summer when the Magpies failed to secure him, with the forward instead choosing Chelsea and the Magpies having to do with the underperforming—and ten times more expensive—duo of Woltemade and Yoanne Wissa.
For now, the proposed swap appears complicated, but talks are reportedly ongoing with other potential pieces being involved.
