Chelsea Recalls Marc Guiu From Sunderland Loan After Delap Injury

Chelsea have agreed to recall 19-year-old striker Marc Guiu from his season-long loan at Sunderland less than a month after the arrangement began, prompted by Liam Delap's hamstring injury that left Chelsea short of attacking options. Although Guiu's loan did not include a recall clause, Chelsea negotiated with Sunderland, who consented to the early termination, leaving Sunderland in urgent need of new striker signings before the transfer deadline. Guiu had made only a handful of appearances for Sunderland, scoring once in the Carabao Cup, while previously impressing for Chelsea by becoming their top scorer in the Conference League and contributing to their Club World Cup victory. Chelsea also halted Nicolas Jackson's proposed loan to Bayern Munich due to their striker shortage, though Jackson reportedly still wants to move. The recall allows Chelsea to provide manager Enzo Maresca with an alternative striker profile to Delap, as Joao Pedro is currently the only recognized number nine but prefers playing as a number 10. Sunderland now face the challenge of reinforcing their attacking options with limited time remaining in the transfer window.