Chelsea defeated West Ham United 5-1 at the weekend to pick up their first win of this season. Despite going down by one goal in the early minutes of the matchup, the Blues quickly came back and put in an incredible performance. Now shifting our focus to the transfer front, the deals for Xavi Simons and Alejandro Garnacho are still on standby.
Additionally, the club are looking to part ways with some of their players who are not in their long-term plans before the transfer deadline. This includes Chelsea’s primary striker from last campaign, Nicolas Jackson.
In the last few weeks, a number of clubs have expressed their interest in the player. However, there did not seem to be a frontrunner to sign Jackson. That is, until now.
While speaking on the Inside Track Podcast, Football Insider transfer correspondent Pete O’Rourke stated that Jackson is likely to move before the end of this transfer window, and Aston Villa are the ones in pole position to get a deal done. He said:
"Emery gave [Jackson] his La Liga debut at Villarreal, the two of them both have a good relationship, and Emery is hoping that will give his team the advantage as they follow up their interest in Jackson.
“It’s a deal they are working on and an agreement is a high possibility. Villa are in pole position."
Aston Villa emerge frontrunners to sign Chelsea striker Nicolas Jackson
Emery is believed to be a huge fan of Jackson, having previously managed the player at Villarreal. He seems keen to reunite with the Senegalese striker despite his shaky run in the Premier League so far.
Jackson, who joined Chelsea from Villarreal in 2023, has since gone on to appear in 81 matches for the Blues. But the 24-year-old has never really made the primary striker role his own at the club. In the previous season, he scored just 13 goals in all competitions, which is not enough by any means at a club of this magnitude.
As a result, Chelsea have already signed Liam Delap and Joao Pedro with both of them performing well. So naturally, Jackson is expected to slide down the pecking order if he stays, and parting ways seems to be the best way forward for both parties.
Apart from Aston Villa, clubs like Bayern Munich and Newcastle United are also firmly in the race for the player. All signs point to the fact that Jackson’s chapter at Stamford Bridge is drawing to a close. The only thing that remains to be seen is where he will eventually end up.