Chelsea

Nizaar Kinsella
BBC Sport football news reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Nicolas Jackson is a signing Chelsea are delighted with since he joined for £32m from Villarreal.

Although he had spells last season where he was criticised for missing chances, he has exceeded internal expectations at Stamford Bridge.

The Blues have always seen the Senegal international as a long-term prospect to develop and 17 goals and six assists in 44 games last season highlighted his faster-than-expected adaptation to the Premier League.

Jackson scoring record in his first campaign at Chelsea was higher than club legend Didier Drogba's.

Like Cole Palmer, Jackson is seen as a proof of concept for Chelsea's transfer strategy, with CIES Football Observatory calculating his transfer value increasing by over £37m over a six-month period in April.

That is why he has been rewarded with a two-year extension to his contract and is now on a nine-year deal in west London.

We asked for your views on whether Nicolas Jackson is good enough to lead Chelsea's attack. The Senegalese striker scored more goals in his first campaign at Chelsea than club legend Didier Drogba.

Here are some of your comments:

Nick: He's about 10% short of being a great striker. He's a real handful, he's pacy and I doubt many defenders feel comfortable playing against him. A little more composure and a lift in conversion rate and he'll be great. That will come with time and playing in a consistent system and coaching environment.

Paul: Jackson is doing enough - just. He links up with Cole Palmer and Noni Madueke reasonably well, and is bagging goals, but his attitude stinks.. The penalty incident versus Everton said it all. I fear there will be plenty more petulance and dissent as this season wears on.

Diego: Anyone not watching Jackson week in week out probably doesn't get the full picture of how much he contributes to every stage of the build-up and press. He has an excellent ability to hold the ball up and introduce other players to the attack through it. He simply needs to work on his finishing and not overthink things in front of goal.

Claude: Jackson has had opportunity after opportunity to prove he is worthy of leading the attack but, so far, has completely failed to deliver. I do not believe he has ever scored a goal when he is one on one with only the goalkeeper to beat. Hugely disappointed Chelsea did not bring in a top striker in the window. Big mistake.

Phil C: I like Jackson. There is no doubt he is wasteful but he shows great movement off the ball and some decent touches to bring others into the game. Clearly he needs to work on his finishing and I would like him to be able to hold the ball better, but overall he is good enough, especially if he continues to learn and improve.

Liam: Last season, Jackson was emblematic of problems Chelsea faced in front of goal since the change of owners. More memorable for easy chances missed in big moments. He deserves credit for his mentality, picking himself up and trying again. He had similar numbers last season to Kai Havertz, who he replaced, and clearly has ambition to improve at Chelsea.

Nat Hayward
BBC Sport journalist

Image source, Getty Images

After all the noise surrounding Chelsea's deadline day pursuit of Napoli's Victor Osimhen, Nicolas Jackson has quietly started his campaign in the same vein as he finished last season - both in terms of scoring goals and missing chances.

In Mauricio Pochettino's final five Premier League games in charge, Jackson scored four times and assisted once. In Enzo Maresca's first three league games in charge, he has scored twice and assisted once.

The 23-year-old did spurn opportunities to build on his goal in Sunday's 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace, but these numbers show something Jackson has often been criticised for not being in his early Chelsea career - the art of being consistent.

His Premier League stats now stand at 16 goals and six assists in 38 games and he has been rewarded with a two-year contract extension, tying him to the club for a further nine years.

What crystallises Jackson's promise is that throughout his adjustment to Chelsea and the Premier League, and despite his rawness, he has put up very respectable numbers.

The truth is his goal tally could be much higher from the number and quality of chances he has carved out for himself - a much better problem than a forward struggling to find openings.

Jackson's 14 goals from an expected goals of 18.6 in the Premier League last season was an underperformance of 4.6. Despite perceived profligacy against Palace, he has two goals from two xG so far in the league this campaign.

He has also endeared himself to the Stamford Bridge crowd, who appreciate his work-rate, persistence and refusal to hide. Having a strong personality is a pre-requisite to be a successful Chelsea striker and fans need only look at his response to criticism from legendary midfielder Jon Obi Mikel, external to see Jackson has just that.

In his first season, Didier Drogba scored 10 Premier League goals. In his second, he got 12. The difference being, however, that he won the title in both those seasons.

Jackson has started his Blues career in better goalscoring form but is being viewed through the lens of the work in progress that is Chelsea.

This season will reveal much in regards to the level he can reach and his suitability to be the main man in west London for the nine - yes nine - years now left on his contract.

Image source, Getty Images

Chelsea have moved to extend Nicolas Jackson's contract and did you know he has been involved in eight goals in his past eight Premier League appearances (six goals, two assists).

That is as many goal involvements as he managed in his previous 19 games in the competition.

Everton turned down the opportunity to sign defender Axel Disasi and forward David Datro Fofana from Chelsea in a swap deal for 27-year-old England striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin. (Givemesport), external

Want more transfer news? Read Tuesday's full gossip column

Nizaar Kinsella
BBC Sport football news reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Saudi Pro League club Al-Nassr are in talks to sign Chelsea winger Angelo Gabriel on a permanent deal.

The 19-year-old is considered surplus to requirements just a year after moving to Stamford Bridge in a £10m move from Brazilian side Santos.

But the Blues believe they can make a quick profit on the Brazil under-20 international and have entered talks with Public Investment Fund (PIF) owned Al-Nassr, who boast Cristiano Ronaldo among their star-studded ranks.

Saudi Arabian clubs have been encouraged to sign top under-21 talents with new exemptions on overseas limits for younger players.

Angelo would fit into that category and could leave after spending last season on loan at Chelsea's partner club Strasbourg, which is also owned by the Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital run BlueCo.

The transfer window in Saudi Arabia closes at 22:00 BST.

Image source, PA Media

We asked for your thoughts after Sunday's Premier League game between Chelsea and Crystal Palace.

Here are some of your comments:

Chelsea fans

Fossie: Having done so well against Wolves, this result was disappointing. There were the opportunities, but we just couldn't get enough shots at goal. We must learn to do more with the ball in the opposition half, move it quicker, and stretch their defence and then the goals will come.

Paul: Same old Chelsea - chances created but can’t finish. It's going to be a long season. No improvement on last season with millions spent again. Selling Conor Gallagher - the heartbeat of Chelsea - was a huge mistake.

Kwame: Enzo Maresca's changes were poor. How can Joao Felix come on at the left when Christopher Nkunku is there? He even had the audacity to overlook Nkunku again by bringing on Mykhailo Mudryk. We drew because of poor decisions. Noni Madueke also did not help matters for hanging on the ball for too long instead of releasing it. .

Alan: What can I say? Another below-par match with the defence in all kinds of trouble again. Just doesn't seem to get any better. We are still lacking that recognised striker who can put away half chances when Jackson seems to freeze on the ball. Someone within the management must be able to see the two main areas of concern or they are just ignoring it?

Crystal Palace fans

Kev: A promising performance. I feel we should have pushed for the win but it was a decent point away. Looking forward to smashing them at Selhurst when we have the new signings playing.

Bill: Given how many games it's been since we've beaten Chelsea, how they had rinsed Wolves 6-2 last time out, and the fact our new players were unavailable, I expected the worst. However, we showed guts and determination to earn a point. Hopeful of more to come when we can field a full-strength team.

Steve: Slow start as usual and looked more like a Roy Hodgson side at half-time. But, with the Will Hughes to Cheick Doucoure change and a half-time talk from Oliver Glasner, the second half was much better. Dean Henderson was man of the match for a solid keeper performance.

Lee: Good point and very good performance in the second half. Doucoure made a difference while Daniel Munoz and Chris Richards were great. When the new players are bedded in, we should climb the table.

We recently asked you what fans aren't talking about at Chelsea but should be.

You offered a host of replies but several focused on Nicolas Jackson, stating he hasn't received enough credit for his opening season at the club. Jackson found the net 17 times, while club legend Didier Drogba did so 16 times in his first campaign.

Given he is young at 23 and now has a new deal, is Jackson good enough to lead Chelsea's attack in the future?

Let us know here, external

Nizaar Kinsella
BBC Sport football news reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Chelsea haven’t given up on offloading players as they invited Olympiakos owner Evangelos Marinakis and AEK Athens sporting director Panagiotis Kone to Stamford Bridge on Sunday.

The transfer window in the top five European leagues, including within English football’s top four divisions, is closed but teams in Greece, Turkey, Belgium, Netherlands and Saudi Arabia can still buy and sell players.

The invitation of two key figures in Greek football into a directors’ box, featuring Chelsea’s co-owner Behdad Eghbali and sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart, showed Chelsea remain open for business.

AEK Athens are believed to have an interest in signing striker David Datro Fofana, who is considered surplus to requirements, and is believed to have seen moves to Hoffenheim and Sunderland collapse on deadline day.

Ben Chilwell, Angelo Gabriel, Deivid Washington, Harvey Vale and Alex Matos could also leave either on loan or on a permanent deals.

Highlights and analysis from Sunday's three Premier League fixtures, plus the best of the action from the rest of the weekend.

If you missed Match of the Day 2, catch up now on BBC iPlayer.

And you can watch Saturday's Match of the Day here.

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• Newcastle 2-1 Tottenham

• Man Utd 0-3 Liverpool

Nizaar Kinsella
BBC Sport football news reporter, at Stamford Bridge

Image source, Getty Images

Jadon Sancho was watching on next to co-owner Behdad Eghbali and the two sporting directors who signed him - Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart - from the directors' box.

There was excitement as he was announced last night but the familiar question will remain - how good would this team be with a world class striker?

Nicolas Jackson worked hard and scored the opening goal but he also missed two late chances to win the match.

Chelsea threw everything they had at Crystal Palace in the second half as Joao Felix, Mykhailo Mudryk and Christopher Nkunku came off the bench.

But none of them looked like scoring as Palace looked tactically superior after Eberechi Eze's excellent equaliser.

It poses the question, would another winger like Sancho have made the difference had he been available? The answer invariably feels like no, definitely not.

It's remarkable that after over £1.5billion spent under this ownership - that there isn't a clinical striker among new manager Enzo Maresca's ranks.

It raises the question of whether Chelsea should have forced a deal with Napoli and Victor Osimhen's outspoken agent, Roberto Calenda, than sign Sancho on loan from Manchester United.

Image source, Getty Images

Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca, speaking to Sky Sports: "We completely deserved to win the game. We had many, many chances. The most important thing was the performance and the performance was there. We conceded just two shots today.

"We didn't take the three points but playing the way we did today, I think we will win games."

Should Will Hughes have been sent off? "This kind of thing for sure changes the game. It was clear second yellow card but the referee thinks in different ways.

"I feel a bit shame for the result but not the performance. The direction is the correct one.

"With the players arriving now we can even better."

Image source, Getty Images

Chelsea have scored 47 goals at Stamford Bridge in 17 matches in 2024 - the most home goals of any club across Europe’s big-five leagues.

Gary Rose
BBC Sport journalist

Image source, Getty Images

Chelsea spent more than £200m in the summer in an effort to upgrade their squad and, they hope, propel them into the top-four picture.

But this game highlighted familiar concerns for the Blues as they struggled to put away chances.

Nicolas Jackson scored 14 leagues goal last season - a very decent return by anyone's standards - but he was guilty of missing some big chances too, and that was the case once again against Palace.

He scored a tap in which took his early season tally to two in three games but then failed to convert a couple of late chances to seal the three points.

The 6-2 thrashing of Wolves shows that they have the firepower, so fans will be hoping this was just a blip, particularly after another summer of big spending.

Were you at the game or following from elsewhere?

Chelsea fans, have your say on the match, external

What did you make of the game Palace fans?, external

Come back to this page on Monday to find a selection of your replies

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