Rory Delap: The Next England Striker?
Rory Delap was supposed to be next.
When he burst out of Manchester City’s academy and bullied defenders in the Premier League with Ipswich, plenty inside the game quietly pencilled him in as the natural heir to Harry Kane. Same ruthless streak, same penalty-box presence, the same sense that chances would simply find him.
Then came Chelsea.
A £30 million move to Stamford Bridge should have been the making of him. Instead, it dulled the shine. Delap left with a FIFA Club World Cup winner’s medal but only three goals from 47 appearances, a stark return for a striker once tipped to lead England’s line. His reputation, once soaring, sagged badly in west London.
Nottingham Forest saw something others had started to doubt. They pushed £50m across the table in the summer of 2026, smashing their transfer record to bet on a reboot. Early signs suggest they might be right. Delap has already opened his account for the Reds and, more importantly, looks alive again – aggressive in his runs, sharp in his hold-up play, desperate to make up for lost time.
Forest can offer what Chelsea never truly did: minutes, patience, and a team built to serve him. At the City Ground, he is not a luxury squad option. He is the focal point. For a striker, that kind of backing can be worth as much as any transfer fee. Confidence follows, then rhythm, then goals. If that sequence clicks on the banks of the Trent, the conversation around Delap will change quickly.
England are waiting for someone to force that conversation.
Kane, at 33 and still relentless, has 85 goals for his country and a clear sight of three figures. He is closing in on Peter Shilton’s all-time caps record as well, just four appearances shy. His numbers are so outlandish that they distort everything around them. Whoever comes next will be judged against a phenomenon.
That is the scale of the vacancy looming over the national team. When Kane finally steps away, the void will be enormous. Right now, there are not many obvious candidates queuing up to fill it. Delap is one of the few names that keeps resurfacing, along with Aston Villa’s 17-year-old prodigy Brian Madjo, as part of the thin group trying to prove there will be life after England’s most prolific No.9.
Former England striker Bobby Zamora understands exactly how brutal that comparison will be. Speaking to GOAL in association with BetWright Premier League betting, he did not pretend there is a ready-made replacement.
“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 admitted.
Pressed on who might emerge, he circled back to Delap – and to the scars of that Chelsea spell.
“Potentially Delap. 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 “right sort of team” might just be Forest. A club with a fervent fanbase, a manager willing to lean on him, and a system that allows a burly, penalty-box forward to play to his strengths. If Delap keeps scoring there, his 12 caps at U21 level will start to feel like a prelude rather than a peak.
England’s staff will be watching. They have to. Somewhere, someone will need to wear that No.9 shirt once Kane finally hands it back. Delap believes he can be that man.
Now he has a stage, a run of games, and a point to prove. The question is no longer whether he was once seen as Kane’s heir.
It is whether he can still claim the throne.
