Watch out, Haaland! Jackson is making Chelsea forget about Osimhen

Tom Weber

• Updated: 21 Sept 2024 15:06 BST
• 3 min read

Nicolas Jackson has started the new Premier League season like a house on fire.

The Chelsea striker could have been a backup going into the new campaign as the club had been trying all summer to sign a new No.9. After failing to land Samu Omorodion, the Blues also did not manage to secure the signature Victor Osimhen.

This left question marks hanging over Chelsea's centre-forward position. Though Jackson enjoyed a solid debut season, he became a bit of a meme due to missing easy chances. Christopher Nkunku, meanwhile, spent most of his first year at Stamford Bridge out injured and new signing Marc Guiu is just 18.

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However, so far in this still-young season, Jackson has emphatically proved his doubters wrong, establishing himself as Enzo Maresca's undisputed starting striker.

Jackson stars for Chelsea

At the time of writing, only Erling Haaland has more goal contributions than Jackson after Chelsea's comfortable 3-0 victory over West Ham. The Senegal international has netted four goals and recorded two assists in five Premier League outings.

Against West Ham, Jackson was at his devastating best. Deadly on the counter, the 23-year-old proved a nightmare to deal with for the Hammers' defence.

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Jackson showed nothing of his usual profligacy in front of the net and instead was clinical when faced with Alphonse Areola. He used his body well and was too quick for Max Kilman, Edson Alvarez and Konstantinos Mavropanos.

Chelsea weren't convincing for the entire 90 minutes but West Ham's defending was too lacklustre to ever put the end result in doubt. In truth, the west London giants could have scored four or five, with Jackson the standout performer and deserved Man of the Match.

If he can keep up this prolific form for an entire campaign, Jackson will make Chelsea forget about Osimhen and perhaps even pose a threat to Haaland for the Premier League Golden Boot.