Within the slew of latest signings Chelsea made in the course of the early days of the Todd Boehly revolution, maybe none obtained the identical ire as Nicolas Jackson from followers at Stamford Bridge and past.
The Senegal worldwide joined from Villarreal in the summertime of 2023 for a reported €40m and on an, on the time ridiculed, eight-year deal.
Jackson was nothing greater than a middling success in Spain having scored 12 objectives in 35 LaLiga appearances and it appeared for all of the world as if the 23-year-old could be nothing greater than a below-par disappointment within the Premier League as effectively.
Within the merciless world of social media fandom Jackson shortly turned a punchline for the west London facet, receiving fixed swipes after a listing of more and more weird misses and no-show performances.
His maiden hat-trick in opposition to Tottenham in November final yr was seeming increasingly more like an outlier with Mauricio Pochettino’s facet struggling underneath the burden of added expectation and a bloated squad.
So when Pochettino was sacked and changed by Enzo Maresca this summer time, the writing appeared prefer it is likely to be on the wall for Jackson as Chelsea added ahead abilities like Jadon Sancho, Pedro Neto and João Félix.
Nothing although, may very well be farther from the reality.
Jackson has began each sport underneath Maresca to this point and, proper now, is vying with Erling Haaland because the Premier League’s premium marksman.
The west London facet are at the moment fifth within the desk, one level behind Arsenal and really a lot within the combine for a Champions League place.
That, partially, is right down to Jackson and his exceptional confidence going into the brand new marketing campaign and telepathy with Participant of the Season Cole Palmer.
The Blues lethal duo had been at it once more this weekend as Newcastle got here to the Bridge and had been despatched dwelling packing by objectives from the pair.
The primary was a shocking workforce purpose. Began by Palmer, the England worldwide performed a wide ranging move to Pedro Neto who placed on the afterburners and crossed for Jackson to complete first time.
Nicolas Jackson has been concerned in 14 objectives in his final 14 Premier League video games 👀
It seems he has a brand new celebration 😅🕺
It was his sixth purpose of 2024/25 and his 14th purpose involvement in 14 matches.
The second – though largely of Palmer’s doing – was additionally helped by Jackson’s glorious motion because the Senegalese ahead drifted into house and gave Dan Burn one thing to consider.
Earlier than the large Toon defender might then get again into place, Palmer fired in a low shot that nestled into the underside left-hand nook.
It earned Chelsea their fifth win of the brand new time period and will earn Jackson numerous apologies from those that condemned him as a busted flush this time final yr.
📸 JUSTIN TALLIS – AFP or licensors