When Nicolas Jackson pushed through a loan move to Bayern Munich in the summer, many felt that he would have been better off staying at Chelsea. It was always going to be difficult for him to compete with Harry Kane for the starting spot. On the other hand, the Blues lack an out-and-out striker right now.
Joao Pedro seems to be more comfortable playing with a number 9 rather than being one himself. On the other hand, Liam Delap has only managed one goal in a Chelsea shirt so far. We are heading towards December.
Jackson had his struggles at Chelsea for sure and his finishing was awful at times. But over his two seasons, he did manage a respectable 30 goals.
On the other hand, he might have overestimated his own qualities while making the move to Bayern Munich. He has scored just three goals so far and is not a regular starter, as many had predicted. There is believed to be an obligation to buy included in the deal in the region of £56.2 million but it will only become active if he starts a certain number of games, a criterion he is unlikely to meet.
Chelsea learn Bayern Munich decision on Nicolas Jackson's £56m buy clause
It appears that the Bavarians have already made a decision on Jackson. As reported by Christian Falk on CF Bayern Insider:
"The German champions paid a loan fee of £14.3m, and they have an obligation to pay £56.2m to sign him permanently; for that, Jackson has to start 40 games for Bayern to trigger the clause.
Bayern have no intention at the moment to trigger Jackson’s buying option. However, the former Villarreal striker is still expected to stay until the end of the season."
Of course, the entire situation is a confusing one. It is pretty clear that Jackson does not have much of a future at Bayern Munich. But he will remain there until the end of the season, and most likely play a secondary goal, unless there are injury problems at the club.
On the other hand, he might no longer have a future at Chelsea either after how things played out late in the summer transfer window. So, it will be interesting to see what happens next in his career. As for the Blues, they could end up signing another striker soon with names like Julian Alvarez and Dusan Vlahovic being linked with them as potential options.