Chelsea legend Didier Drogba. ( Picture David Small Sportimage)
Pundit and former Chelsea player Scott Minto has claimed Nicolas Jackson reminds him of Blues legend Didier Drogba after he witnessed him in the 1-1 league draw against Liverpool on 13 August.
Jackson, who was signed from Villarreal, is yet to open his Chelsea account as he failed to score a goal in the Blues’ last two Premier League games. But he did get into scoring positions and was lively in attack, especially against Liverpool.
His work rate has been something to be hailed, as Jackson has greatly improved the Blues’ attacking line with his high-pressing and ball-holding abilities. The 22-year-old Senegal international looks like a very promising player.
His off-the-ball positional awareness has been impressive, and once he gets that eye for goal, Chelsea will certainly have a potent striker who can easily score 20 or more goals in a season.
Minto says he has been impressed by the Senegalese’s performance in England and seeing play reminded him of Drogba. Speaking to TalkSPORT, he said:
“Do you know who he reminded me of in that first half? Didier Drogba: He was powerful. He dropped off. His touch was good. He was holding the defenders off. He was running behind her. He was turning. The defenders couldn’t keep up with him pace-wise. I was like, Woah, this is a player.”
“I’m very wary of using the words Didier Drogba with any Chelsea No. 9… but I saw a lot of talent and a lot of potential there. He could turn things around almost on his own.”
It would be too soon to compare Jackson to Drogba but Pinto’s statement does make some sense. They have similar athleticism and are aggressive when in the opposition box.
But if Jackson truly wants to emulate Drogba, he will also need to start scoring goals—something Chelsea have struggled to do since the start of last season. Over the years, we have actually struggled to replace Drogba, our last consistently world-class No. 9.
Diego Costa and Fernando Torres both had a decent impact after Drogba left, but none were as influential as him. Jackson is here for a long time and as fans would remember, it took some time for Drogba to get going (he had just two league goals when the 2004-05 season entered December). But the rest is history.
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