Nicolas Jackson is still a Chelsea player, technically.
The striker has joined Bayern Munich after a hectic deadline day drama, but only on loan. He needs to play a certain number of games (we don’t yet know how many) before the move becomes permanent.
Chelsea lost faith in Jackson after fallow period
Still, one can look at the big picture and how it came about without yet being sure if he will go. On his Substack, our writer Simon Phillips today had some really interesting inside information about how it all went down.
Phillips pointed out that a move was wanted by both sides. “Chelsea and Enzo Maresca had lost some faith in Jackson,” he wrote. “There have been doubts for some time now… nobody think he is a bad player, but they don’t think he’s got enough to elevate the team to where they want to be.”
He certainly looked like he had enough in the early part of last season. He did then go on to have a serious drought, but only when the whole team (including Cole Palmer) were in a similar funk. But we can see why they thought it would be easier to upgrade than improve him.
Jackson wanted out after “fan criticism” became “too much”
As well as Chelsea, Jackson’s camp were also keen to get him a move. Jackson had been “frustrated and unhappy for some time,” and felt that the “fan criticism was too much… he became unhappy.”
When he heard that Chelsea were in the market for other strikers, “that was the final straw.” He wanted out, his representatives wanted him to go, and the club were happy to oblige. It’s no wonder that there was such reluctance to let the Bayern deal fall apart from all sides.
Jackson was by no means a bad player. He had some maddening moments, but it helps no one and, indeed damages the club in the long run, when players are essentially run out of the club by their own fan base. Even if you go beyond the purely human level on which being publicly jeered is miserable and is never a recipe for improved performance, a player who wants away often puts the club in a bind and can reduce that player’s re-sale value if it becomes known he has demanded a transfer.
So to all the Chelsea supporters who seem to think it’s their God given right to jeer their own and who to take glee in kicking a guy when he’s clearly down—if you can’t be a better human, at least be a better “supporter†and stop hurting the club with your bile. Maybe we’ll be better off without Nicolas Jackson. Or maybe this will be another Mo Salah/KDB-sized mistake. But one thing is for certain—making the player miserable to wear the Blue hurt him and, ultimately hurts the club and you don’t get to call yourself a “supporter†when you do either.