Nicolas Jackson is sparkling for Chelsea right now – like he never has before in a Blues shirt.
In 10 matches for Chelsea this season – in all competitions – the 23-year-old striker has struck six goals; all of which have come in the Premier League. Jackson’s well-taken goal against Newcastle United on Sunday afternoon means he has nine direct goal involvements in nine Premier League outings this term – with six goals and three assists.
It has been a fabulous start to the season for the Senegalese striker but his red-hot form has carried on from the end of last term under Mauricio Pochettino. In his last 17 top-flight games, Jackson has found the net on 11 occasions while providing five assists in the process.
Signed for £30million from Villarreal in July 2023, Jackson arrived at Stamford Bridge as a fairly unknown quantity. Those that had watched La Liga and specifically Villarreal described Jackson as someone with plenty of talent but ultimately very raw with several aspects of his game to work on.
In his debut season at the Bridge, that told. There were numerous occasions where supporters would be left frustrated with his sometimes erratic finishing in front of goal but he ended his maiden campaign in England with a mightily impressive 14 Premier League goals in 35 games.
This term, he is on track to smash that total out of the park. In fact, his record compared to other strikers aged 23 or under in Europe’s ‘top five’ leagues is spectacular. Via DataMB, Jackson has the most goals, most assists, most non-penalty goals, second-highest expected goals, third-most shots, third-most key passes and fourth-highest goal conversion rate.
Not only that but on Sunday, in the 2-1 win against Newcastle, Jackson became the fifth-fastest Chelsea player in Premier League history to reach 20 goals for the club. Jackson reached the 20-goal landmark in just 44 games, with only Mark Stein (37 matches), Cole Palmer (33), Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink (27) and Diego Costa (26) achieving the total in less outings.
In the last couple of years, Jackson has changed his lifestyle for the better, football.london understands. The striker has established some positive habits in terms of physical and mental health; including more rest, better nutrition and a set daily routine.
Jackson tries to sleep at an early time in order to get eight hours of rest every night. His recovery management includes specific treatments and exercises, while every meal he eats includes protein, carbs and vegetables as well as keeping properly hydrated throughout the day.
Whatever he is doing off the field is clearly working with Jackson quickly becoming one of Chelsea’s most significant players – just a few months after mass speculation that the club were doing everything they could to sign Victor Osimhen from Napoli. Plenty of fans thought the next step for Chelsea would be to sign what they would consider a ‘world-class’ No.9 despite a positive debut season from Jackson’s point of view.
However, in the early stages of this term, Jackson has blown that out of the water. Any move for another centre-forward now would surely be detrimental to Jackson’s continued progress and development. He is just going to keep getting better and better.
The Senegal international’s link-up play with Palmer is special and something that is almost seamless at this point. When Jackson drops deep to collect the ball, something he did repeatedly at Stamford Bridge on Sunday to try and take Dan Burn out of the game, Palmer would then vacate the space in front of him. See Palmer’s disallowed goal for reference.
Palmer is the top dog at Chelsea – there is no doubting that. But his life is made much easier with the selfless play of Jackson alongside him. Palmer recognises that, too, and is often over to Jackson before anyone else in his celebrations. Jackson and Palmer, so far, have assisted each other 11 times in 39 Premier League games.
Despite being a target for many people online during his debut season with the club, Jackson is undoubtedly moving in the right direction with the guidance of Enzo Maresca. The truth is: Chelsea have not had a striker as good as this since the days of Costa.
Many have come in and failed, see Romelu Lukaku, Alvaro Morata, Timo Werner and Kai Havertz. They have all tried at one point to replicate what Costa did for the club but did so with little to no success. Jackson, rewarded with a two-year extension to his already lengthy contract last month, will be hoping to make himself the standard for future strikers coming into the club – and is well on his way to doing that.
