Reports: Chelsea agree fee for Nicolas Jackson
Chelsea are set to secure their second signing of the summer in the form of Villarreal striker Nicolas Jackson, triggering a €35m release clause.
He will follow Malo Gusto and Christopher Nkunku – who were signed in January – and Ecuadorian wonderkid Kendry Paez. The latter will arrive in West London following his 18th birthday from Independiente del Valle for €20m, most likely in 2025.
Jackson announced himself towards the end of last season, striking home nine goals in the span of eight games which also saw him earn plaudits as a predatory, robust center-forward who knows full well where the back of the net is.
The 22-year-old was approached by three clubs across the continent, but according to Fabrizio Romano, he was keen on a Premier League move more than any other option.
Jackson will pen a long-term deal as is the case with a handful of Chelsea’s young reinforcements. He is poised to sign a five to six-year deal and will undergo medicals this week. The Blues will pay a notch over the required €35m to Villarreal, but in installments.
New boss Mauricio Pochettino still has a week or so before he takes over the reins at Stamford Bridge but has been actively working with the directors and management off the pitch.
While they continue to add talent into the setup, Chelsea are predominantly working on sales. Mateo Kovacic to Manchester City, Kai Havertz to Arsenal, along with Saudi moves for Edouard Mendy, Kalidou Koulibaly, Hakim Ziyech and club legend N’Golo Kante are all but rounded off.
And despite their summer splash, the club desires a goalscoring target man up front. David Datro Fofana, as skillful as he is, is raw. Armando Broja missed the best part of 2022/23 due to an ACL rupture, whereas the less said about Romelu Lukaku’s situation, the better.
Pochettino will have to work his magic and extract goals from a talented group of forwards, and no doubt, Nicolas Jackson will add a cutting edge to their brand of football.
Amongst the many tormenting reasons, part of the cause behind finishing 12th in the league was because Chelsea couldn’t score more than a goal per game on average, accumulating a mere 38 all season long.
-Roy Akarshak
Twitter: @RoyAkarshak
Photo: Дмитрий Голубович. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.