Nicolas Jackson of Villarreal CF celebrates after scoring against Athletic Bilbao. (Photo by Aitor Alcalde/Getty Images)
As per a report from Evening Standard, Chelsea have held talks with Villarreal striker Nicolas Jackson who is set to be available for £30m during the summer transfer window.
It is revealed that the Blues have stepped up their search for a striker and identified the 21-year-old striker as their summer target.
Chelsea wanted to sign Napoli striker Victor Osimhen. But they know the Serie A champions won’t sell him and the price is too high as well.
Atalanta’s Rasmus Hojlund and Juventus’ Dusan Vlahovic were deemed as backup options, but both of them will cost upwards of £65m.
Coming back to Jackson, he has been at Villarreal since 2019, initially as a youth player. The 2022/23 season was his debut as a senior player and it went pretty well.
The 21-year-old scored 13 goals and assisted five in 38 appearances (just over 2000 minutes of playing time though) in all competitions. He is predominantly a centre-forward who can operate on either wing.
The Senegal international is good at finishing, dribbling and creating chances. He has good pace to trouble defenders with runs in behind as well.
With Chelsea not in Europe next season, the prospect of signing a Vlahovic or an Osimhen is anyway tough. So, it might not be a bad idea to get someone like Jackson on a budget price and hope that Mauricio Pochettino develops him into an elite number nine.
The good thing about the Senegal national is that he has shown signs of being good during his first season as a senior player at Villarreal. Can he build on that if Chelsea sign him in the coming days? We can hope so and bank on Pochettino to do the good work.
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