A lot has been made about Chelsea and their options up top. Understandably so as this is a club that appears to have Premier League and Champions League, and possibly a chance of competing at that level if they can strengthen a few areas. One thing they seem to be missing right now is an elite striker capable of scoring 20-plus goals every season.
Joao Pedro made a blistering start to life as a Chelsea player but has cooled down significantly since then. On the other hand, Liam Delap might have scored against FC Barcelona, but that was just his second goal since joining in the summer. And Marc Guiu does not look like someone who is ready to lead the line for a club of this size.
Chelsea do have another high-profile striker on their books, although he is out on loan at the moment. Of course, we are talking about none other than Nicolas Jackson.
Jackson joined Bayern Munich in the summer for a £14.2m loan fee with an obligation to buy set at £56.2m. Now, that wording might confuse fans into thinking that he is definitely joining the German giants on a permanent basis next year. But the truth is far from it. There are a lot of ifs and buts for that clause to be activated. In fact, it looks like there is no longer a chance that it will be.
24-year-old striker will return to Chelsea next summer
As reported by GOAL, Jackson will return to Chelsea at the end of his loan spell at Bayern Munich. It is now impossible for the Senegalese international striker to meet the required number of appearances to trigger the obligation to buy clause in his deal.
Of course, this does not completely rule out a permanent move to Bayern Munich. The two clubs might negotiate and come to an agreement over a transfer. But it is hard to imagine that the German club would be open to the idea of paying around £56 million for a player who is a rotational option at best.
Jackson has scored four goals for Bayern Munich so far but he has only played 457 minutes of football. Let's be honest, he would have played a lot more if he had stayed put at Chelsea, especially with the club's fitness issues.
Chelsea had actually tried to keep him after Delap's injury late in the summer transfer window but Jackson seemed intent on the move to Bayern Munich. It is hard to imagine he would have envisioned it playing out like this.