Chelsea have recently announced the signing of Nicolas Jackson from Villareal – as the Blues were in desperate need of a quality striker, the news has gone down a treat with Blues fans.

While the jury is still obviously out on the 22-year-old, as his Premier League debut still awaits him, we believe that he is exactly the kind of player Chelsea need for the upcoming campaign.

In this piece, we’ll explain why we think he is such a good signing – we will also compare him with Chelsea strikers of the past, including both success and failures.

What kind of player is Nicolas Jackson?

Jackson is a lightning-quick forward who possesses bullish strength, impressive technical ability and a wicked eye for goal – for such a young player, his goalscoring record is excellent.

Last season, while playing for Villareal, he scored 12 goals in 26 La Liga games – he also registered four assists in the 2022/23 league campaign for the Yellow Submarine.

In several ways, Jackson draws comparisons with Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford. Both are extremely fast forward players with a proven goalscoring record – additionally, they can also play both up front and out wide.

If we had to pick one flaw in Jackson’s game, it would be his ability to hold up the ball. He is much better when playing off the shoulder of the last man, rather than contributing to passing moves and linking the play.

How does Nicolas Raskin compare to Chelsea strikers of the past?

Chelsea have historically had a chequered past with their strikers. While some, such as Diego Costa and Didier Drogba, have been roaring successes, there have also been some total flops who have adorned the famous blue kit.

Players such as Alvaro Morata, Fernando Torres and Romelu Lukaku are names that Chelsea fans would likely rather forget. Lukaku, in particular, holds the dubious honour of being a Chelsea flop on two separate occasions.

Perhaps the greatest Chelsea flop up top was Andriy Shevchenko – not only did he cost the Blues a whopping £30.8 million, he went on to score just nine goals in 48 games.

His inclusion in the team also led to manager Jose Mourinho dropping players to accommodate him – seldom has a marquee signings had such a negative effect on the squad.

As such, it is unlikely that Jackson will be quite as catastrophic as Chelsea’s biggest disasters in the striker position – but he will have to work very hard if he wishes to match the likes of Costa and Drogba.