Nicolas Jackson has revealed he ‘wanted’ to join another Premier League club a year before Chelsea came in for him and brought him to Stamford Bridge.
Jackson penned an eight-year deal with the Blues after they signed him for £32m from La Liga side Villarreal in the summer of 2023.
A few months before his move to west London, Jackson was close to joining Aston Villa and reuniting with Unai Emery, who had just left Villarreal to take over at Villa Park.
Jackson says a minor injury cost him a move to Aston Villa, though he was still packing his bags shortly after as Chelsea swooped to secure his signature.
Despite scoring 17 goals across his first season at Chelsea, Jackson attracted criticism from fans and pundits for his wayward finishing.
That does not appear to be as much of a problem this term, however, with the Senegal striker already scoring eight goals in the Premier League.
‘When Unai left, he wanted me to go to Aston Villa, but I was injured,’ Jackson said.
‘I wanted to leave because the [new] coach came in. I had to go, but I was injured a little bit in my hamstring.
‘We went there, they checked and said I needed one more month and they want me now. If they want me in one week, two weeks, I was not ready, so they had to cancel the transfer, and I went back.
‘When I went back, I was very angry. Not angry I didn’t sign because when we were on the plane, I told my friend, “Don’t worry, better things will come and that’s life.”
‘Then I started working more to play with Villarreal. When I came back, I think I scored 12 goals in two months.’
Several pundits have suggested over the past 12 months that Chelsea need to sign a new striker to become challengers for top domestic and European honours.
But Gary Neville believes the form of Jackson means that is no longer the case.
Nicolas Jackson, I’m happy for him. I never thought he was the problem. I thought they might need to sign another forward but I thought he would be a really good second striker.
‘If you had a number nine like Diego Costa and Jackson was your man to come on, you’d think what a good striker he is to come on.
‘He’s now pushing to the point where you think, “do we actually need that first striker? Could he be that first striker?”
‘I had a lot of love for him last year even though he was erratic and made mistakes. We’re now seeing a real handful up there and someone you wouldn’t want to play against as a centre half.’
Chelsea, currently second in the Premier League, will look to maintain their surprising title push on Sunday when they face west London rivals Brentford.
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