Liam Delap has sent a message to Nicolas Jackson after making his Chelsea debut at the Club World Cup.

Delap appeared to send a challenge to Nicolas Jackson after he played his first match for Chelsea.

The former Ipswich striker enjoyed a lively cameo in Chelsea's opening Club World Cup clash against Los Angeles FC at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Georgia.

The England centre-forward replaced the Senegal international at the hour mark and provided an assist for Enzo Fernadez's goal. He nearly registered another assist.

"I think it’s always good to have that competition, it’s football and this is an incredible club," Delap told DAZN after the win over LAFC via Metro Sports. "It’s always going to be incredible hard at a club like Chelsea but you have to thrive off the competition."

Jackson scored 13 goals last season, including 10 in the Premier League. He scored once in 2025 in the English top flight, while Delap bagged 12 league goals.

The Blues have struggled finding a reliable goalscorer for years, and Delap will provide strong competition for Jackson, the number one option upfront.

"The good thing about Liam is he knows the way we want to play so the process is quite quick. Also we gave a chance to Dario Essugo which is another player we have, so it's good for both of them," Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca said after their win over LAFC.

Chelsea will face Flamengo and Esperance in their next FIFA Club World Cup matches.

@sgcfc23:

"26 minutes of Liam Delap has been way more impressive than two full seasons of Nicolas Jackson."

@CFCdruw:

"Liam Delap and Nicolas Jackson will only make each other better. This is going to be FUN."

@tier_first:

"Liam Delap’s debut: Made clever runs, dragged defenders to free space for wingers. Linked well with Palmer and Enzo, got an assist and nearly set up Enzo twice."

@CFC_Dubois:

"This Liam Delap cameo might’ve ended Jackson’s career at Chelsea."

@CFC_dennoh:

"I told you guys Liam Delap is better than Jackson 😭."

Chelsea will compete in the Champions League next season, giving the two strikers plenty of opportunities to battle for a starting spot. It still remains to be seen whether the Blues will add another striker in the transfer window.

In a related story, reported that Chelsea released four players at the end of the 2024/2025 season.

The Premier League required every club to submit a list of their retained and released players for the season.

There was no high-profile player on Chelsea's list. Goalkeeper Lucas Bergstrom was one of the names on the list.

Source: TUKO.co.ke