England's Next No.9: Can Delap Step Up After Chelsea Setback?
The search for England’s next No.9 has become football’s longest-running casting call. Every promising striker is measured against Harry Kane, and almost all of them fall short. For a while, Delap looked like the exception.
Breaking out of Manchester City’s academy and then bullying Premier League defences during his spell at Ipswich, he was quickly talked up as the natural heir to Kane’s throne. Strong, direct, ruthless in the box – the comparisons came thick and fast. It felt less like hype and more like succession planning.
Then came Chelsea.
A £30 million move to Stamford Bridge was supposed to be the launchpad. Instead, it stalled him. Three goals in 47 games in all competitions tells its own story. He still left with a FIFA Club World Cup winner’s medal, but his reputation took a heavy dent in west London. The trajectory that once pointed towards the stars suddenly dipped.
Nottingham Forest, though, saw something others were starting to doubt. In the summer of 2026, they pushed £50m across the table, smashing their transfer record to make Delap the focal point of their attack. It was a statement: this was not a reclamation project, this was a bet on a centre-forward who could still become elite.
Early signs suggest they might be right. Delap is already off the mark for the Reds and has looked sharp, aggressive and hungry in his first outings at the City Ground. Regular minutes, a clear role, a fanbase that loves a powerful No.9 – it is exactly the kind of environment a striker needs to rediscover his edge.
Every goalscorer lives on confidence. Managers can talk about systems and structures, but belief and backing are what turn chances into goals. Forest look ready to give him both. If he starts scoring freely on the banks of the Trent, the conversation around him changes quickly.
Because England need someone.
Kane, still relentless at 33, continues to carry the national attack. He has already plundered 85 goals for his country and has three figures in his sights, along with Peter Shilton’s all-time appearance record. Four more caps will pull him level with the legendary goalkeeper. He is not easing off; he is accelerating towards history.
When he finally steps away from the Three Lions, the void will be enormous. Right now, there are no obvious like-for-like successors. A handful of hopefuls are circling the role, among them Delap and Aston Villa’s 17-year-old prodigy Brian Madjo, but no one has yet grabbed that shirt and made it their own.
Former England striker Bobby Zamora is honest enough to admit the scale of the problem. Speaking to GOAL in association with BetWright Premier League betting, he did not pretend there was a ready-made answer.
“I really don't know. Harry Kane is extremely, extremely special. There aren't many of him and to try and fill his boots, is firstly going to be a very, very tall task. I don't know who that person is that's going to come in,” Zamora said.
Pressed on who might emerge, he did not dodge Delap’s name – or his setbacks.
“Potentially Dalap. I'm interested to see how he takes the knock of the Chelsea situation. I actually thought he was going to be something really special. He's taken a little bit of a knock and I'm interested to see how he copes with that from the trajectory that he was on, aiming for the stars, taking a blip with injuries and inconsistencies and not as many goals as he probably would have liked at Chelsea. But yeah, he's potentially one.
“I think he needs to fit into the right sort of team. He has to fit into the right sort of team, but Harry's a very hard one to follow.”
That is the challenge in front of Delap now. Forest believe they are the “right team” for him. The Premier League will test that theory every week. If he responds to the Chelsea setback with goals, if he turns promise back into end product, the England question will answer itself.
The shirt Kane has elevated to historic levels will not stay vacant forever. Someone will have to step into that space and carry the weight. Delap’s next season will tell us if he is just another name on a long list of nearly men – or the striker bold enough to walk in behind a legend and make it his own.
