The past six weeks have been unlike any in Delap's career. He signed, undertook a few days' training with his new team-mates at Cobham, and then travelled to the USA as part of the Chelsea squad for the Club World Cup.

His debut came in our tournament opener against Los Angeles FC, and he assisted our second goal with a fine cross. A first start came in our next game against Flamengo and his first goal was struck in style against ES Tunis to help seal a place in the knockout stage.

Aside from the semi-final, which he missed due to suspension, Delap featured in every game for the Blues en route to us winning the trophy. And he was unfortunate not to net in the final against Paris Saint-Germain, twice being denied by excellent Gianluigi Donnarumma saves.

That ultimately proved immaterial to our triumph. What mattered was the winner's medal hanging from Delap's neck and the trophy lift that had taken place shortly before he spoke to us on the MetLife Stadium pitch.

‘It’s a great start for me,' he smiled. 'Now we have to push on into next season and bring more trophies home to this special club.

‘We had belief within the squad. I’ve only been here a short time, but I can see everyone is so dialled into what the head coach wants, and everyone is hungry to win.

'We have proved that, and hopefully we can keep proving that in the future.’

Delap started among our substitutes against Paris Saint-Germain, and watched on as his team-mates opened up a three-goal lead by half-time.

Cole Palmer, who Delap has known for several years from their time together in Manchester City's academy, opened the scoring, added a fine second on the half-hour mark, and then turned creator for Joao Pedro's strike.

Delap's introduction came in the second period as the legs of the PSG defenders began to tire. He played his role to perfection, stretching their backline and posing a threat. As mentioned, only Donnarumma denied him a goal.

‘There was a lot of talk before the game [about Paris Saint-Germain being favourites], but we had the confidence and belief,' reflected the 22-year-old striker. 'We knew if we executed the game plan we we would win. We showed that.

‘Everyone understands that Cole is incredible; he is a special player. But every man on the pitch had their role and we had to be hungry and fight for every ball, every challenge. And then when we had our chances, we had to be clinical. We did that.’

Like his team-mates, Delap will now enjoy some time off to relax and refresh ahead of the 2025/26 campaign, which will be his first in blue. And despite now being a world champion, Delap's ambition remains the same as the day he joined Chelsea.

'We have got to keep that winning mentality and win more trophies,' he said. ‘It’s a really special group and I think we can go on to do special things.’