Both highly coveted over the summer, both absolutely awful.
Who is the worse player?
Who is the worse player?
Who’s worse: Delap vs Gyökeres
- Thread starter Fortitude
- Start date
Ironically Delap’s play style was likened to Gyokeres
Gyokeres is significantly older and was significantly more expensive, but is only marginally better.
I'm glad we got Sesko out of the three.
I'm glad we got Sesko out of the three.
Sesko is the better than both and he hasn't even had a good season.
Gyokeres has been more useful despite being underwhelming
Gyokeres had a bizarre amount of fan boys on here based on his exploits in Portugal and the Championship. Delap always looked like a clogger, no idea why anyone wanted him here.
Gyokeres is a better player, though.
Gyokeres is a better player, though.
The reason delap had demand was his low price, not because people thought he was amazing.
Delap is just outright useless. Gyökeres also looks an expensive flop but at least he scores here and there. Sesko is better than both
Gyökeres even though he’s terrible as well
All pale in comparison to the might that is Wout Weghorst
I’ll own up to it, I was fully behind the proposal to buy Delap, cheap and 12 goals for a poor Ipswich side but my god, he looks poor. A Sunday league style striker!
Delap is quite easily worse but to be fair he was brought as a punt for half the price. He's terrible though, when we were linked in the summer it was clear a lot of people on here had never actually watched him for Ipswich.
I think Hojlund is better than both of them for what it's worth.
I think Hojlund is better than both of them for what it's worth.
He was "PL proven" and "cheap". It was shocking the amount of people that wanted him here as our first choice and were crying about him choosing Chelsea rather than us where he would be "guaranteed number 1". Luckily those aren't the people making transfer decisions.
My Ipswich supporting mate was always a bit confused at the links during the season. He loved Delap for their level but didn't see him as being good enough for the big clubs.
Delap cost £30M with low wages to come in as a second choice striker (arguably third, since they had Jackson then), and absolute worst case scenario, will move to someone like West Ham or Fulham for £15-20M at the end of next season. That isn't a bad buy, it's a calculated risk that didn't work out. Football is full of those.
Gyokeres is different. He cost much more, supposedly came in as a first teamer, into a position they needed sorting out. If Gyokere has been banging them in this season, Arsenal would have all but wrapped up the league already. By the earliest time they're likely to sell him he'll be 29 (next season) or 30 (season after) which means they're almost certainly not to recoup most of the money they spent. So the cost, both on and off the pitch, is far higher.
Gyokeres is different. He cost much more, supposedly came in as a first teamer, into a position they needed sorting out. If Gyokere has been banging them in this season, Arsenal would have all but wrapped up the league already. By the earliest time they're likely to sell him he'll be 29 (next season) or 30 (season after) which means they're almost certainly not to recoup most of the money they spent. So the cost, both on and off the pitch, is far higher.
They're both playing and have expectations way above their level.
Thank feck Utd avoided signing both of them.
Thank feck Utd avoided signing both of them.
People still pretend that PL proven is a serious point to make. And your second sentence is the key point, most player can't make the step up, that includes the vast majority of players from PL bottom half teams.
Delap is absolutely woeful. Why did so many want him?
Funnily we didn’t avoid. They both rejected us!
Will either be at their current clubs after the summer?
Gyokeres most likely will be, but if Arsenal buy another CF it will make him redundant.
Delap could be flipped at any stage (much like Garnacho)
Happily, United missed out on both, more by chance than any real choice of their own.
Gyokeres most likely will be, but if Arsenal buy another CF it will make him redundant.
Delap could be flipped at any stage (much like Garnacho)
Happily, United missed out on both, more by chance than any real choice of their own.
I think that might count as avoiding.
He's young and physical (for our fan base these two things mean instant love), plus, when his stock was high while we were struggling last season, he wasn't Hojlund. He was also on the cheap, but i guess that's a FM thing. As if the problem isn't trusting young/unproven players to lead the line, too, but simply paying too much for them in fees and wages.
As someone who hadn’t seen much of Gyokeres before arsenal I’ve been surprised at just how one dimensional as he is, but at he’s chipping in with goals.
Delap looks awful, there’s absolutely no intelligence in the way he plays. Whenever ive seen him he offers nothing at all.
Delap looks awful, there’s absolutely no intelligence in the way he plays. Whenever ive seen him he offers nothing at all.
Both have that headless chicken vibe I hate in strikers. Hojlund has it too.
They're both not that great, but Gyökeres has had a far better, this is what Gemini scraped:
In the 2025/26 season, Viktor Gyökeres (Arsenal) maintains a clear statistical advantage over Liam Delap (Chelsea) in goal-scoring frequency per minute. Gyökeres has adapted quickly to a higher-volume attacking system at Arsenal, while Delap’s minutes at Chelsea have been more limited as a rotational option.
Per 90 Minutes Comparison (2025/26 Season)
League data as of February 14, 2026, calculated from Premier League and FotMob records.
Key Attacking Insights
These football statistics from the Premier League and FotMob compare Liam Delap and Viktor Gyökeres's attacking output per minute for the 2025/26 season.
In the 2025/26 season, Viktor Gyökeres (Arsenal) maintains a clear statistical advantage over Liam Delap (Chelsea) in goal-scoring frequency per minute. Gyökeres has adapted quickly to a higher-volume attacking system at Arsenal, while Delap’s minutes at Chelsea have been more limited as a rotational option.
Per 90 Minutes Comparison (2025/26 Season)
League data as of February 14, 2026, calculated from Premier League and FotMob records.
| Metric (Per 90 Min) | Viktor Gyökeres (Arsenal) | Liam Delap (Chelsea) |
|---|---|---|
| Goals | 0.45 | 0.13 |
| Assists | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Shots on Target | 0.79 | 1.25 |
| Total Shots | 1.64 | 2.12 |
| Minutes Per Goal | 198.5 | 715.0 |
Key Attacking Insights
- Goal Efficiency: Gyökeres scores a goal approximately every 198 minutes in the Premier League. Delap has struggled for clinical output this term, averaging a goal every 715 minutes.
- Shot Volume: Interestingly, Delap registers more shots on target per 90 (1.25) than Gyökeres (0.79). This suggests Delap is finding shooting opportunities when on the pitch but is currently underperforming his expected goals (xG), which stands at 3.56 compared to his 1 actual goal.
- Champions League Impact: Both players have been more efficient in European competition. Gyökeres averages 0.92 goals per 90 in the Champions League (4 goals in 393 mins), while Delap averages 0.61 goals per 90 in the same competition (1 goal in 147 mins).
- Work Rate and Presence: Gyökeres is a more central part of his team's build-up, with 103 touches in the opposition box compared to Delap's 45, reflecting Arsenal's more sustained attacking pressure.
These football statistics from the Premier League and FotMob compare Liam Delap and Viktor Gyökeres's attacking output per minute for the 2025/26 season.
Agree on this.
I’m pretty sure Gyokeres would have scored here
Agreed, but the question was, who is the worse player, not the worse transfer. And I think, even though Gyokeres is pretty bad, Delap is even worse. He doesn't even look like a footballer sometimes!
All in all, very happy we got Sesko. I think he'll turn out to be the second best striker signing from last summer, behind Ekitike, but ahead of Woltemade and Isak.
I didn’t see it with Delap before and felt reasonably satisfied when he ‘rejected’ us.
Gyokeres came with big expectations and looks way off it, but at least he occasionally does something of value at his new club.
Gyokeres came with big expectations and looks way off it, but at least he occasionally does something of value at his new club.
Can someone explain to me why that was an easy goal? He closes the ball down well, it comes off the crossbar but looking at the spin of the ball I don’t see how he was supposed to quickly tap it in?
Probably because he strolled over to the rebound and was too busy appealing that the ball had crossed the line to put it in.
Didn't follow it in sharp enough, then couldn't beat a keeper one on one.
Or even for a second see that his team mate is a simple pass from an easy finish himself.
Nice work to close the ball down to create it though. But he won't be at Chelsea long.
He'll go to a promoted team and probably be back to looking "ok" in a scuffling side again.
Purely from a footballing perspective, Delap has looked worse.
Gyokeres has been underwhelming but at least pops up with a goal here and there. Delap barely looks like a PL level footballer, and carries with him some serious disciplinary issues.
Gyokeres has been underwhelming but at least pops up with a goal here and there. Delap barely looks like a PL level footballer, and carries with him some serious disciplinary issues.
Closing down - very good, a bit unlucky there. Rebound - how slow and languid are his movements! Easy tap in if he reacts immediately. Then he still can lob or pass the keeper with a shot. He goes for the roundabout way, and his attempt to round the keeper the other way is spoilt by a bad touch and his choice not to round the keeper anyways, but hammer the ball right into his hands instead. I think Gyökeres would have scored the rebound 8 out of 10 times, but not sure he would have gotten it to begin with, good presser though he is.
I was shocked at just how bad Gyokeres looked early on, so slow and unathletic, like he's running with 2 bags of set cement of each foot, so Arsenal look stuck with a big problem long term given the wages he'll be on, the transfer fee, and likely lack of takers at the money they'll need for him.
I knew Delap was a big lump and how he played already, but at least he'll be on lowish wages, and Everton or Forest are bound to turn Chelsea a profit on him soon enough.
I knew Delap was a big lump and how he played already, but at least he'll be on lowish wages, and Everton or Forest are bound to turn Chelsea a profit on him soon enough.
Why on Earth would you need it explained?
The keeper fecking gives up and stops still for two seconds, and then still makes a fool of him.
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Delap had a better scoring rate last season than VG has for an Arsenal side top of the league. I think Delap will end up a decent mid-table striker (DCL levels, hopefully for him without the injuries) . VG will probably score slightly more whilst he's still getting regular game-time, but for the wages, age and fee etc will represent worse value, presuming that LD gets sold for something similar to what Chelsea paid.
Gyokeres still has like 13 goals doesn't he? He'll likely hit more than 20 for the season
Delap always looked like a gamble, and I never really understood the hype around him. There just wasn’t enough there to suggest he’d be successful.
Gyökeres had been fairly underwhelming for most of his career before hitting a purple patch at Sporting. While late bloomers do exist, it’s rare for a player to suddenly become elite in their late 20s and sustain it at the highest level. It always felt more like a hot streak than a long-term transformation.
In the end, we may have had a fortunate escape with both..
Gyökeres had been fairly underwhelming for most of his career before hitting a purple patch at Sporting. While late bloomers do exist, it’s rare for a player to suddenly become elite in their late 20s and sustain it at the highest level. It always felt more like a hot streak than a long-term transformation.
In the end, we may have had a fortunate escape with both..
And Goyokeres was the most popular vote on here to be our new CF with Watkins wasn't he? 