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It has been quite the rollercoaster few years for Nicolas Jackson. Born in Gambia, Jackson moved to Senegal during his teenage years, where he would make his start in professional football.
These promising displays attracted the attention of Villarreal, who signed him to their reserves in 2019. Jackson bided his time out on loan at Mirandes and with Villarreal’s B team before finally breaking into the starting eleven in 2022/23. Despite only having scored 13 goals and 6 assists in 48 appearances, Chelsea saw fit to sign Jackson to an eight-year contract, paying £32 million for him.
Since then, Jackson has been given a direct pathway to the starting eleven as Chelsea’s lone center forward, impressing with his hold-up play, his technical precision, and his unpredictability in the final third. However, he’s also left plenty of people in the Chelsea fanbase as well as the club hierarchy unconvinced, having struggled to polish his finishing skills and proving erratic and undisciplined in his off-the-ball work.
It’s why Chelsea decided to bring in Liam Delap from Ipswich Town prior to the FIFA Club World Cup and bolster their striker depth. Jackson started up top in their opening match vs. LAFC, assisting Pedro Neto’s opener, before ceding his place to Delap, who set up Enzo Fernandez’s second goal. He replaced Delap in the following match, when Chelsea were in the process of relinquishing an early lead to Flamengo. But rather than help them level proceedings, Jackson was sent off after four minutes.
It was Jackson’s second expulsion in four matches — having previously been sent off vs. Newcastle — and it was why Chelsea decided to bring in Brighton striker Joao Pedro midway through the tournament. Whereas Pedro took to Chelsea like a duck to water, bagging a brace vs. Fluminense and a goal vs. PSG, Jackson would make just one more appearance, remaining on the bench for the other two.
Now, it appears that Jackson only has one destination available to him: the exit door. He was left off of Chelsea’s squad for their friendly vs. Bayer Leverkusen at Stamford Bridge, with both Jackson and Chelsea keen on a permanent sale. Having missed out on previous targets Hugo Ekitike and Benjamin Sesko, Newcastle have emerged as the frontrunners to sign Jackson as they search for a long-term successor for Alexander Isak. Milan and Juventus have also put out feelers for the 24-year-old, in addition to other clubs.
It remains to be seen where Jackson will be playing in 2025/26, but one thing’s for sure: his future is getting farther and farther away from West London.
