Former Chelsea star Shaun Wright-Phillips has admitted he’s changed his mind on Nicolas Jackson after being highly critical of the striker last season.
Jackson arrived at Chelsea last summer from Spanish side Villarreal in a deal worth £32m and had an impressive debut campaign at Stamford Bridge.
Despite missing a lot of chances the 23-year-old still scored 17 goals in all competitions , 14 of which came in the Premier League and he was rewarded with a new two year contract extension keeping him at the club until 2033.
Wright-Phillips has changed his mind on Jackson
Chelsea were expected to sign a top quality striker in the summer to compete with Jackson and possibly take his place and a lot was made of their failure to do so after pursuing Victor Osimhen for the the majority of the window.
However, Jackson’s start to the season has shown that may not have been a bad thing and the Senegal international already has four goals and three assists in six games.
Despite Nkunku being in good goal scoring form, Jackson is very much Enzo Maresca’s first choice, and even if he’s not scoring he still contributes to the team in other ways.
Former Blue Wright-Phillips admitted he was highly critical of Jackson last season, but has now changed his mind on the striker.
“Do you know what I love is, to be honest, Jackson,” he said as cited on X.com.
“I was highly critical of him last year. I think, to see the difference in him this year in that final third area.
“He definitely has had one-on-one work with the manager and that is helping Chelsea as well because, now they aren’t just relying on Cole Palmer.
“He is stepping up to the plate, whether it be assists or scoring. He is in the right place and taking chances.”
Jackson looks like he’s matured as a player from last season, but despite scoring two well taken goals at West Ham he missed a number of good opportunities against Brighton despite having a good game overall.
If he can iron out those inconsistencies with the amount of chances Chelsea create then there’s a 20 goals per season player there.