Jackson set for Bayern loan & Nkunku joins Milan

Nicolas Jackson and Christopher Nkunku both signed for Chelsea in June 2023

Chelsea striker Nicolas Jackson is set to join Bayern Munich on loan with an option to buy, while Christopher Nkunku has completed a £36m move to AC Milan.

France forward Nkunku, 27, has signed a five-year contract with the Serie A side to end his two-year stay at Stamford Bridge.

The Blues, meanwhile, will receive an initial loan fee of £13m (15m euros) for fellow attacker Jackson, while Bayern have a £56.2m (65m euro) purchase option for the Senegal international.

Jackson, 24, has already agreed a pre-contract with Bayern and has been given permission to travel to Germany to complete the move, while a sell-on clause has been included in the deal.

The sale of Nkunku, coupled with Jackson's impending departure, will further boost Chelsea's financial position.

The Blues have raised about £309m this summer from player sales, once add-ons are included, having spent about £277m on new signings.

Sales are important to Chelsea this summer because of Uefa sanctions - which included a fine of 31m euros (£26.7m)- to maintain a "positive transfer balance" in this window to register new signings for the Champions League.

Nkunku scored 18 goals and provided five assists in 62 matches for the Blues, having joined from RB Leipzig for about £52m in 2023.

He played a significant role in Chelsea winning the Club World Cup and Conference League last season.

New arrivals limit Jackson's chances

Both Nkunku and Jackson signed for Chelsea in 2023, but have seen their opportunities limited by the arrivals of summer signings Joao Pedro, from Brighton, and Ipswich's Liam Delap.

Joao Pedro, 23, scored three goals for Chelsea at the Club World Cup and got off the mark in the Premier League with a goal in their 5-1 win at West Ham on Friday.

Delap, 22, also got on the scoresheet in the summer's Club World Cup and has featured in Chelsea's opening three games of the league season, but pulled up feeling his hamstring in Saturday's match at home to Fulham and was immediately substituted.

Jackson was a regular in the starting line-up in his two seasons at Chelsea, but has not played for the club since a substitute appearance in their semi-final victory over Fluminense in the Club World Cup in July.

The former Villarreal forward has a solid scoring record of 24 goals from 65 Premier League appearances.

But he has under-performed his expected goals total by seven over the past two years, the second-most of any player in the top flight.

A key factor has been his record in what Opta define as 'big chances'.

Jackson has scored just 18 of 61 such opportunities (29%), a relatively low conversion rate compared to other top forwards.

He was an unused substitute in Chelsea's victory over Paris St-Germain in the Club World Cup final and did not figure in either of their opening league games - a goalless draw at home to Crystal Palace and 5-1 victory at West Ham.

Chelsea went into Saturday's early game at home to west London rivals Fulham fourth in the table, on four points.

Why didn't Jackson make it at Chelsea? - analysis

The beginning of the end for Jackson was a red card at Newcastle which almost cost his side a top-five place in the Premier League and Champions League football.

His elbow into the face of Magpies defender Sven Botman was rash and ill-disciplined.

But another red card followed for a high foot against Flamengo at the Club World Cup, which meant he was banned from two competitions simultaneously.

Multiple sources with knowledge of the Chelsea squad reveal how Enzo Maresca started to treat Jackson differently and began to lose trust with the forward - a view shared by some in the hierarchy.

That is despite Maresca saying in April that Jackson was his "perfect number nine" and he wanted "a copy of Nico".

Many inside the club and close to the player believe the striker's move to the Blues has been a success.

They highlight the fact Chelsea paid just £32m to sign him from Villarreal and how six years ago he was playing on sandy pitches in Africa without elite-level European coaching available to him.

However, such a rapid rise meant he was often harshly perceived as the weak link by fans and pundits alike.

The pressure appeared to get to him after criticism from former midfielder John Obi Mikel, who he argued with on social media.

But Jackson also outscored Chelsea legend Didier Drogba in his first season - netting 14 goals to the Ivorian's 10. He then scored 21 goals in his first 50 games to equal one of Africa's great strikers at Stamford Bridge.

In truth, Jackson was a better overall footballer than finisher in front of goal. His importance was often linked to Chelsea's lack of alternative options during his two-year spell at the club.

His loan fee upon joining Bayern is among the biggest ever, ranking behind just Giovani Lo Celso's fee when he joined Betis to Tottenham and two different Alvaro Morata moves.

It shows how Jackson polished his skills while at Chelsea - with the Blues delighted to potentially double their money from their initial outlay.