Is Nicolas Jackson the left winger Chelsea are looking for?
Chelsea's pre-season coded Club World Cup win over LAFC offered a glimpse of 2025/26 and an alternative to the left-wing debate
Okay, it is hard to get past the empty seats. It is hard to get past infantile Infantino dancing around in his mid-life crisis with cringey influencers. The awkward player walkouts and “Superior” players of the match. It is also hard to get past watching a Chelsea game in the US and be told it isn’t a pre-season friendly.
You are wading through a forest of caveats before finally reaching some analysis on the actual football. Lots about this felt unserious, or at the very least, a warm-up to the actual stuff in August.
However, it would be unfair to suggest neither Enzo Maresca, his players, nor us as supporters cannot gain anything from these June evenings.
The biggest intrigue about the Club World Cup is the influence of new faces amongst a squad coming off a grueling domestic campaign. Fears of exertion can be lessened with a reliance on new recruits to inject a fresh energy into a squad that can be forgiven for tiredness.
Arguably top of that list is Liam Delap. Raring to go at the expense of England’s Under-21 prospects in Slovakia, Delap poses a serious alternative to Nicolas Jackson and maybe, a partner.
Jackson’s performance against LAFC showcased why many, including myself, refuse to discard him due to some disappointing finishing. Jackson’s hold-up, link-up, passing and movement all demonstrate a high-calibre player. Although his 2024/25 output could not improve on a promising debut year, 13 goals in all competitions, 10 coming in the Premier League is by no means a disastrous return.
However, with the arrival of Delap and potential of another striker signing beyond that, it is clear Jackson’s role is not as assured. But that does not mean he is destined to become a benchwarmer.
As many cited when Chelsea signed him from Villarreal in 2023, the Senegalese international spent a fair bit of time running down the wing for El Submarino Amarillo. We have very rarely seen Jackson deployed in such a role for Chelsea.
The only example that comes to mind is the FA Cup replay at Villa Park in February 2024. When Mauricio Pochettino placed Jackson on the left of Chelsea’s attack with him working well in the build-up to the first goal and heading in the second.
Jackson’s main detractors can rightly criticize his wayward and inconsistent finishing, but pretending there is nothing else to his game is missing context.
It was illuminating being at Senegal’s victory over England in Nottingham last week. Watching a Chelsea striker take on a Chelsea back two during an international and viewing him as an opposition player. The movement was consistently dangerous and link-up effective. How do Chelsea try and harness that whilst also introducing Delap who could prove a very effective focal point?
In this current window, Chelsea are actively pursuing a new left winger. Jamie Gittens of Borussia Dortmund has been the subject of several bids with another likely to follow. David Ornstein reported on Monday evening that a verbal enquiry has been made for Lyon’s Malick Fofana.
Chelsea need to bolster their wide options, this became crystal clear when gazing at the squad taken to America, with Noni Madueke, Pedro Neto and Tyrique George offering the only natural fits.
And this is relevant profile wise, because Maresca’s system demands wingers who provide ultimate width, rather than drifting inside. Chelsea need a good 1v1 player capable of working alone without the assistance of a fullback overlapping consistently.
This is why both Gittens and Fofana (no matter your opinion on them) make some sense from a profile fit POV. However, do either of those players truly elevate the output from last season? That remains the big question for almost all signings this summer.
There is an ongoing debate about both, with hype for Fofana growing given his likely cheaper price and high potential, well explained by EuroExpert in an Athletic video. Demonstrating his ability to outperform his xG, shoot with both feet and rank high compared to other wingers on FBref.
A comparison between Fofana and Sancho via DataMB reflects well on the 20-year-old Belgian. Superior for progressive carries, dribbles, non-penalty goals, xG + xA, key passes and attacking actions.
A further comparison between Chelsea’s two targets: Fofana and Gittens is a lot closer, favoring Gittens in dribbles, non-penalty goals, assists, key passes and attacking actions.
Chelsea need to be looking at how to close the gap to Liverpool from 15 points to under 10, adding most likely 4/5 more league wins on the board. That is beating Ipswich and Palace twice from last term.
If your transfer aspirations are purely going to be fiddling round the edges it seems a bit pointless. The data on the face of it would show some improvement with either Gittens or Fofana vs. Sancho in 2024/25. Obviously, that is assuming their transition into a new environment and league goes smoothly, which is far from a guarantee.
Which then leads me to ponder if Jackson is the left winger Chelsea are looking for?
Jackson’s dribbling would need to improve, and you are effectively taking a player who has operated as a focal point and asking him to stand near the touchline, when his natural tendency is probably to drift inwards and look to link up just outside the box.
This is maybe a slight tweak from Maresca being considered heading into the second season with links to Premier League attackers Morgan Rogers and Mohammed Kudus being touted. Maybe there is a willingness to recruit different profiles which require some adjustment in your system, but may provide the improvement in goals that lead to the league wins required.
Jackson’s turn and pass to setup Pedro Neto’s opener on Monday was sublime. The sort of execution that Jackson’s harshest critics tell you he is not capable of. His tireless running down the channels is another trait of his that gets overlooked, as has his physicality since arriving although aerially he remains weak when balls are crossed into the box.
Do I think this is perfect fit? Maybe not. However, it is one that feels intriguing to at least experiment with now Delap has arrived.