Nicolas Jackson passport blunder denies minnows a FORTUNE

Cameron Smith

17 Jan 2025 09:00 CST
3 min read

Nicolas Jackson, Chelsea, passport — © IMAGO

A passport blunder from the Senegalese Football Federation has inexplicably denied Casa Sports a fraction of Nicolas Jackson’s €37 million transfer fee.

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The 23-year-old joined Chelsea from Villarreal for €37m in 2023, with his former club Casa Sports scheduled to receive 5% of the fee - equating to €185,000.

However, FIFA have ruled that the Senegalese top flight side will not receive this payment as the Senegalese Football Federation (SFF) forgot to register Casa Sports in Jackson's sport passport.

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That is according to a sensational report from Sport News Africa, who report that Casa Sports must now file a formal complaint against the SFF if they want to escalate the case further.

Jackson spent the 2018-19 season at Casa Sports and his form for the club attracted the interest of Villarreal, who opted to bring him to Spain in September 2019.

Nicolas Jackson at Chelsea

Jackson has divided opinion since joining Chelsea in 2023, but he has notched 26 goals and 10 assists in 65 games for the club and Enzo Maresca remains a huge fan of the Senegal international.

“He has to continue to work in the way he is working,” Maresca told reporters ahead of Chelsea’s 2-2 draw against Bournemouth on 14 January.

“We are completely happy with Nicolas and don’t judge him just because of goals, we judge him on different things.

“I spoke to Nicolas a few days ago. Last season he scored 14 goals in the Premier League without a penalty.

“[Erling] Haaland [is on] penalties, [Mohamed] Salah penalties, [Cole] Palmer penalties - if you score 14 or 15 goals in the Premier League and add five penalties, then he is a 20-goal-a-season striker.

“This season, he has scored nine and with a few penalties he could be close to 13 or 14."