Chelsea striker Nicolas Jackson scored his 19th league goal for the Blues against Liverpool at the weekend.
The Senegalese international has also racked up 8 assists in his 43 Premier League appearances since arriving from Villarreal last year. Kai Havertz only managed 19 league goals and 7 assists before leaving for Arsenal, but it took the German 48 more appearances to reach those figures. Understandably, fans on X feel that Jackson is a superior player to the one he effectively replaced:
That’s some upgrade right there
— T3N🇯🇲 (@fwmiide) October 21, 2024
Much better player as well
— Cal (@CFC_Cal) October 21, 2024
Man I’m so glad we got rid of Havertz
— Tix (@CFCTix) October 21, 2024
He's far better than Kai..
— Melvin (@Greatpeter02) October 21, 2024
Massive upgrade more to come for him
— KAYÿ (@_kaybaba) October 21, 2024
Jackson should be given the respect he deserves
— Ntwiga (@Malemba254) October 21, 2024
This guy is just underrated fr!
— Haměb (@CFC_034) October 21, 2024
We should call Villarreal and pay them again. Such a bargain man
— Messiolo11 (@oludin12) October 21, 2024
Jackson is growing in stature
The 23-year-old has often been criticised for his finishing during his first 12 months at the club but it’s been a different story this season.
Jackson scored 1 from only 2 attempts at Anfield, with the other hitting the frame of the goal in the first half. He is still not a world-class finisher (he is currently 0.5 below his xG for the campaign), but it is an improvement on what we saw from him last year (-4.6).
Competition for places at Chelsea
It should be pointed out that Jackson knows that he can’t rest on his laurels. With Christopher Nkunku fit and firing, the Senegalese striker knows he has to perform or he is at risk of being dropped.
Nkunku has actually scored more than Jackson in all competitions, hitting the back of the net 7 times in total compared to his teammate’s 5.
Find out who is in Chelsea’s first-team squad for the 2024/2025 season here
