Delap will wear the No 9 shirt at Chelsea after completing a £30million transfer

Liam Delap will wear the No 9 shirt at Chelsea after completing a £30million transfer to Stamford Bridge from Ipswich.

The 22-year-old, who became Enzo Maresca's second signing of the summer after Dario Essugo, will be the 18th man to wear the jersey as the Blues prepare for life back in the Champions League next season.

The two clubs came to an agreement over Delap last week, and after undergoing a medical put pen to paper on a long-term contract in west London on Wednesday.

The Blues have now confirmed that Delap will take on the No 9 jersey, which has proved rather unlucky for a succession of Chelsea strikers over the years. The last player to wear the 'cursed' strip was Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who inherited it for a short period in 2023.

It had been the jersey of Romelu Lukaku, who rejoined the side in a £98m deal in 2021.

The Belgian moved to Naples last summer for £30million, three years after joining the Blues from Inter Milan. However, his return to Stamford Bridge proved to be disastrous, as after a positive start, he fell out of favour, spending successive seasons on loan at Inter and Roma back in Italy.

Lukaku secured a permanent exit in August having been forced to train with Chelsea's bomb squad during pre-season, an experience that he had also undergone during the previous summer.