Ian Wright has questioned Chelsea's decision to sell Nicolas Jackson after the Senegal striker's strong start to his Aston Villa career. Jackson has scored seven goals in 11 appearances since joining Villa Park in a £65m summer deal from Chelsea.
Jackson's path from Chelsea to Villa
Chelsea signed Jackson from Villarreal in 2023, and he impressed in his first season at Stamford Bridge with 17 goals in all competitions. However, his output dropped during the 2024-25 campaign, leading Chelsea to loan him to Bayern Munich last season.
Bayern paid £14m for the loan and agreed to sign Jackson permanently for a further £56m if he met certain conditions, including a set number of appearances. But playing back-up to England captain and Ballon d'Or winner Harry Kane meant Jackson did not achieve that, so he returned to west London in the summer.
Wright and Neville praise Villa forward
The presence of Joao Pedro at Stamford Bridge complicated Jackson's future, and Chelsea sanctioned his permanent move to Aston Villa, where he reunited with former Villarreal boss Unai Emery. Jackson scored in three successive games earlier in the season and bagged a brace in Villa's win over Premier League leaders Manchester City at the weekend.
Discussing the 25-year-old on The Overlap, Manchester United legend Gary Neville said: 'Is Nicolas Jackson the most improved player in the Premier League? I always thought he would be a good signing for someone because he's a handful, I would hate to play against him. I do like him.'
Former Arsenal and England striker Wright added: 'I'm delighted for him. When you watched him at Chelsea, yes he missed chances but everything else about his game… the way he makes runs, plays on the shoulder, his touch… you knew that if he could just start nicking some goals, he would be fine.'
'You're looking at him now after scoring a few goals and you can actually see the confidence in him. He could go on a run at Villa, it's up to him now where he goes.'
Emery hails Jackson's quality
Aston Villa boss Emery praised Jackson after Saturday's win over Manchester City, highlighting his 'quality and his power'. Emery said: 'Mature, experience, confidence, and he is very demanding himself. Very demanding himself to improve things. Today, he scored two goals, but the last matches he's scoring goals too.'
'But at the beginning of the season, to adapt to us was more difficult, and he was shooting a lot of balls over the crossbar. Now, he's getting his shots better, as well he's working fantastic tactically, fantastic. Sometimes he can drop, because he's good at getting duels, but we need him more running in behind.'
'He has his quality and his power. His speed is fantastic, and as well his capacity to get duels man-to-man, or to attack players to pass for another. So today, he scored two goals, but the most important how he did his work, his task.'
Chelsea striker Pedro had a promising start to the season with five goals in his first six appearances, but has missed the club's last two games through injury. The Brazilian missed Chelsea's Carabao Cup last-16 defeat to Liverpool on Wednesday and will be absent this weekend when Manchester United visit Stamford Bridge.
