Very bad news for Nicolas Jackson , A-week before clash between Chelsea and Man city
Chelsea’s final preseason game of the 2024–2025 campaign is scheduled for this Sunday against Inter Milan. Following a disastrous American tour that ended with three losses, one draw, and a 3-0 victory over Club América’s Mexican opponents, the Blues will look to turn things around before facing Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City in their Premier League opener next Sunday. That matchup comes after their most recent defeat to Real Madrid.
The team’s new coach, Enzo Maresca, has made some excellent selections for this Sunday’s encounter at Stamford Bridge against the Italian champions.
Jackson’s season has a rough beginning.
With a massive roster of almost forty players (the largest current European squad excluding Romelu Lukaku, which consists of eight goalkeepers and nine attackers), Mauricio Pochettino’s successor selects a starting eleven without Nicolas Jackson.
Enzo Maresca reiterates his faith in the youthful Spanish player, Marc Guiu, who was signed this summer from FC Barcelona, by starting him at the head of the attack. Guiu has now participated in nearly all of Chelsea’s preseason games and has contributed a goal and an assist. A circumstance that is completely unfavorable to the Senegalese striker.
Indeed, a starter in almost all of the Blues’ matches last season under Pochettino, Nicolas Jackson has not played any pre-season matches with the new coach. Victim of an injury with the national team since June, the former Villarreal player will start the match against Inter Milan on the bench. Now facing tough competition in attack with the return to form of Christopher Nkunku, the effective presence of Marc Guiu, Cole Palmer and possibly the arrival of Victor Osimhen, mentioned in Chelsea’s plans, the young Senegalese striker risks having a complicated season.
Tough competition for Nicolas
Especially since he showed a lot of clumsiness last season despite his 17 goals in 43 games played, Nicolas Jackson is not at the moment in the first plans of the new coach. Nico participated in his first full session with us, although the session was very light” confided the new Chelsea coach a few days ago as reported by Onesportbefore indicating what he thinks of the Senegalese player. Position wise, I see Nico Jackson as a number 9. If we need him for some games as a winger, so be it… but I see him as a striker.”
Already, with Marc Guiu who is well on his way to starting the season as a center forward, not to mention Nkunku and others who offer acceptable performance when they are placed in attack, Jackson will need to be surgical when he returns to the field.
In the event of new worrying performances like last season when he shone with monstrous failures, the Banjul native risks finding himself on the bench, especially since there are many players who are now claiming a place. Moreover, a new major offensive recruit is arriving in the person of Pedro Neto, who will sign a contract this Sunday.
It must be said that Chelsea’s bloated squad will force all players to fight to offer appreciated returns. After a complicated last season under Pochettino, the Blues’ leaders want to return to the elite with colossal investments.
We will wait to see if the new coach will do better with all the players at his disposal. Things will start quickly with the shock of the first day of the Premier League against Manchester City, who have just won their first title this season.