The Mauricio Pochettino era at Chelsea is starting to take shape with Villarreal striker Nicolas Jackson set to follow French forward Christopher Nkunku to Stamford Bridge.
Jackson, 22, completed his medical on Sunday and has agreed personal terms on an eight-year contract after the Blues agreed to pay slightly more than his €35m (£30m) release clause.
With Nkunku agreeing a pre-contract deal to join Chelsea in October last year, Jackson is the first signing to have been rubber-stamped by Pochettino since the Argentine’s appointment at the end of May.
The Senegal international scored 13 goals in 38 appearances for Villarreal in 2022-23, including 12 times in La Liga, and ended the campaign in a rich vein of form with 10 goals and two assists in his final 11 league games. He almost joined Bournemouth in January before a hamstring issue scuppered the deal.
It was a breakthrough year for Jackson, who predominantly represented Villarreal’s B team in the third-tier of Spanish football in 2021-22 after previously spending time at Segunda Division side Minandes.
Nevertheless, Pochettino will hope that Jackson, who operated as a lone striker or else as part of a front two under Aston Villa manager Unai Emery and his successor Quique Setien, will add something to a misfiring and ineffective attack.
Chelsea’s tally of 38 Premier League goals in 2022-23 was superior to only four clubs in the division and signalled their lowest-ever return in the competition’s history.
It is unsurprising then that Todd Boehly and Pochettino – the American owner’s fourth manager in a little over 12 months – have identified that area of the pitch as one that needs the most urgent attention.
With Kai Havertz closing in on a £65m move to Arsenal and Joao Felix back at Atletico Madrid and seemingly unlikely to return, Chelsea’s frontline will have a new look to it in August.
Whether Jackson begins his career in England in Pochettino’s starting line-up or on the bench is another matter, though, given his relative inexperience. If any lessons have been learned from the opening months of Boehly’s tenure at Chelsea it is to always expect another new signing before long.
Pochettino might prefer to have a more experienced centre-forward to call upon initially.
At Tottenham, he gave Emmanuel Adebayor and Roberto Soldado multiple chances to become first-choice, before eventually turning to a young, homegrown option instead: Harry Kane has since surpassed Jimmy Greaves as Spurs’ all-time top scorer.
Inevitably, given their north London connections, a reunion between Kane and Pochettino across the capital has been mooted, although the chances of Daniel Levy selling his prized asset to a hated rival and ex-manager are non-existent.
Neither Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang nor Romelu Lukaku look to have a future under Pochettino after struggling for form and fitness since joining Chelsea.
Both forwards are in their 30s and have been linked with moves to Saudi Arabia, while a swap deal that would see Inter Milan’s Lautaro Martinez and Lukaku trade places has been mooted.
With uncertainty over the futures of Chelsea’s established forwards and Pochettino’s targets, Jackson could seize his chance to impress when pre-season begins on 1 July, possibly with Kane’s example in mind.
Inevitably for a young player with limited high level experience, Jackson has plenty of areas to work on. But handily for Chelsea given their most glaring weakness, scoring doesn’t seem to be one of them.
Although a return of 13 La Liga goals may not jump out, it is worth highlighting that they came from only 41 shots and 16 starts in the competition. According to FBREF, Jackson hit the target with 56 per cent of his efforts and converted over half of them.
Not since Diego Costa’s heyday have Chelsea possessed a consistent goalscorer. Jackson will hope that he can succeed where others have faltered.
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