Official: Chelsea sign Nicolas Jackson on an 8 Year Contract

[JaneB]

Nicolas Jackson joins the Blues | News | Official Site | Chelsea Football Club (chelseafc.com)

[My Blood Is Blue]

8 year contract, oof! Welcome to the club Nicolas, i'dd be honest and say I know very little about this guy.

[xceleryx]

29 minutes ago, My Blood Is Blue said:

8 year contract, oof! Welcome to the club Nicolas, i'dd be honest and say I know very little about this guy.

Not seen much of him myself either. From the little I have seen though I like his general profile - size, strength, can play with his back to goal or come short, and has enough leg speed to keep defenders on their toes. 

We'll see how he goes I suppose, will just be nice having a proper striker upfront for once. 

[Gurj SS]

Very dangerous on the counter-attack, if we can coax teams into attacking us in numbers or pressing to win the ball back in their own half then he'll be a real threat in behind; my concern is if the spaces just in front of the oppositions box is crowded out with little space given inbehind then he'll have to spend a lot of time coming deep for 5 yard pass offs or he'll find himself out on the wing quite a bit to get touches on the ball, he looks like the type of player that needs to be involved quite a bit so i'm not sure he'll want to stay in and around the box and look to just try and finish a move off.

8 years is a long time, totally get the financial reasons but if any of these players don't work out we will be open to being exploited with how Inter has done with Lukaku; if no buys them we'll just end up with a player being loaned out for 6-7 years.

[Sciatika]

On 30/06/2023 at 20:59, JaneB said:

Nicolas Jackson joins the Blues | News | Official Site | Chelsea Football Club (chelseafc.com)

I wonder if we will have a Jackson Day like we do Demba Ba Day.

[Chelsea_Matt]

On 02/07/2023 at 14:54, Gurj SS said:

Very dangerous on the counter-attack, if we can coax teams into attacking us in numbers or pressing to win the ball back in their own half then he'll be a real threat in behind; my concern is if the spaces just in front of the oppositions box is crowded out with little space given inbehind then he'll have to spend a lot of time coming deep for 5 yard pass offs or he'll find himself out on the wing quite a bit to get touches on the ball, he looks like the type of player that needs to be involved quite a bit so i'm not sure he'll want to stay in and around the box and look to just try and finish a move off.

8 years is a long time, totally get the financial reasons but if any of these players don't work out we will be open to being exploited with how Inter has done with Lukaku; if no buys them we'll just end up with a player being loaned out for 6-7 years.

Based on last year I don’t think teams will hesitate to have a go at us.

[paulw66]

On 02/07/2023 at 14:54, Gurj SS said:

 

8 years is a long time, totally get the financial reasons but if any of these players don't work out we will be open to being exploited with how Inter has done with Lukaku; if no buys them we'll just end up with a player being loaned out for 6-7 years.

Big difference between giving a 21 year old a long contract on modest wages, compared to giving a 28/29 year old a massive contract. 

The problem shifting Lukaku, and also players like Bakayoko, is the weekly wage.

[Gurj SS]

1 hour ago, paulw66 said:

Big difference between giving a 21 year old a long contract on modest wages, compared to giving a 28/29 year old a massive contract. 

The problem shifting Lukaku, and also players like Bakayoko, is the weekly wage.

On the other end Inter came for Lukaku because they had history, and regardless of what happened with us he has been a proven goal scorer all his career. It could be very different for a younger player who hasn't made it, they'll probably have to go to a mid level team who hasn't got the funds to meet our asking price; or in some cases their wages because they seem low to us but wouldn't be for others. Inter knew they didn't have to buy Lukaku, we were beyond desperate to just get him out, 

I'm not saying it'll happen by any means, but Pulisic is a good example of it, £20-25m is what's being mentioned. I don't think the contract length or wages is the issue, it's when clubs know they aren't bidding for a player but pushing a club into a corner instead; and more so when the player hasn't performed because there's options elsewhere if we play hardball.

[Gurj SS]

17 hours ago, Chelsea_Matt said:

Based on last year I don’t think teams will hesitate to have a go at us.

True, let's hope the defence holds up and it allows players like Jackson to exploit space. My only concern is when we have fullbacks who are best used on the overlap and a player like Caicedo(looks like we'll get him) in the middle, they tend to attack on the wings and cross more; and crosses are the one thing I'm worried the most about because we aren't a tall team by any means, plus if Kepa is our keeper he won't help much in the air.

[Chelsea_Matt]

36 minutes ago, Gurj SS said:

True, let's hope the defence holds up and it allows players like Jackson to exploit space. My only concern is when we have fullbacks who are best used on the overlap and a player like Caicedo(looks like we'll get him) in the middle, they tend to attack on the wings and cross more; and crosses are the one thing I'm worried the most about because we aren't a tall team by any means, plus if Kepa is our keeper he won't help much in the air.

Who knows bro. I do think we’ll be a lot more solid though.

[Bison]

https://www.chelseafc.com/en/news/article/jackson-we-want-to-do-amazing-things

Love the enthusiasm and positivity. Seems like he's going to be a fan favourite. 

Happy with everything I've seen so far. Long may it continue. 

[martin1905]

3 hours ago, Bison said:

https://www.chelseafc.com/en/news/article/jackson-we-want-to-do-amazing-things

Love the enthusiasm and positivity. Seems like he's going to be a fan favourite. 

Happy with everything I've seen so far. Long may it continue. 

Very early days with him but he looks a proper player, I've been particularly impressed with his link up play which has been top quality. We could go out and spend a fortune on someone who, on paper, is a higher level than him but we'd do well to find someone that links up as well as he does, which will be a key thing in getting the best out of our attack as a unit.

It's so refreshing to see a forward that knows how to play the role, seems a lifetime ago since we had one.

[Sleeping Dave]

11 minutes ago, martin1905 said:

Very early days with him but he looks a proper player, I've been particularly impressed with his link up play which has been top quality. We could go out and spend a fortune on someone who, on paper, is a higher level than him but we'd do well to find someone that links up as well as he does, which will be a key thing in getting the best out of our attack as a unit.

It's so refreshing to see a forward that knows how to play the role, seems a lifetime ago since we had one.

I gotta say you’re absolutely spot on here. Have we actually gone out and found ourselves a top player that had not yet broken through properly? If so, I think there is quite some time since we last did that (academy products excluded of course). 

You look at Jackson and wonder how on earth Lukaku can still be more expensive than him? As you say, very early days but all of a sudden I have a pretty good feeling about him. Maybe we won’t buy any more strikers and instead use Nkunku there if Jackson would be injured? If that’s what’s going to happen I think both Chuk and Gallagher will stay on in order for the squad not to be too small. 

Wouldn’t it be amazing if all the poor purchases we did last summer was remedied by us going out and smashing it out the of the park this summer? So far I must say the business we’ve been doing has been extremely promising. Lots of players we needed to move on has been moved on. Also some promising incomings. Perhaps we are just needing a DM and a GK to be way above where we were last season? 

[chara]

Nice post @Sleeping Dave..... your last line... last season we only needed the players to earn their huge paychecks to get us above where we finished.

Disgraceful workplace application by players who stopped caring and just watching the different level of fitness (as someone pointed out..look at Chilwell's "chiseled" features) and application in two pre season fixtures is a huge tell on a lot of the issues...fitness levels a tip of the iceburg last season?

[martin1905]

54 minutes ago, Sleeping Dave said:

I gotta say you’re absolutely spot on here. Have we actually gone out and found ourselves a top player that had not yet broken through properly? If so, I think there is quite some time since we last did that (academy products excluded of course). 

You look at Jackson and wonder how on earth Lukaku can still be more expensive than him? As you say, very early days but all of a sudden I have a pretty good feeling about him. Maybe we won’t buy any more strikers and instead use Nkunku there if Jackson would be injured? If that’s what’s going to happen I think both Chuk and Gallagher will stay on in order for the squad not to be too small. 

Wouldn’t it be amazing if all the poor purchases we did last summer was remedied by us going out and smashing it out the of the park this summer? So far I must say the business we’ve been doing has been extremely promising. Lots of players we needed to move on has been moved on. Also some promising incomings. Perhaps we are just needing a DM and a GK to be way above where we were last season? 

Nkunku is wasted as an out and out striker, that's not to say he can't do a job as he absolutely can but he's so good as a 10 he'd be wasted, in my opinion. 

It would be a huge risk to go into the season with just Jackson, Broja and Nkunku as back up but also a huge risk to spend loads of money on another one when we might have just found the solution, for what is a relatively small fee. Big decision to be made and we really need to get it right. 

I don't think we need many new signings, just the right ones in the right positions. After Fofana's injury and Jackson's early promise it could be that the money we were going to spend on a striker would be better off on a new centre half, or a new GK, which I know you would like and we go into the season with Jackson as first choice, it would be a massive call and I wouldn't normally judge a player so early but with the lack of genuine top quality strikers out there, even fewer realistically available I'm almost thinking I want to give Jackson a proper go, he's looked so good so far.

[Sleeping Dave]

46 minutes ago, martin1905 said:

Nkunku is wasted as an out and out striker, that's not to say he can't do a job as he absolutely can but he's so good as a 10 he'd be wasted, in my opinion. 

It would be a huge risk to go into the season with just Jackson, Broja and Nkunku as back up but also a huge risk to spend loads of money on another one when we might have just found the solution, for what is a relatively small fee. Big decision to be made and we really need to get it right. 

I don't think we need many new signings, just the right ones in the right positions. After Fofana's injury and Jackson's early promise it could be that the money we were going to spend on a striker would be better off on a new centre half, or a new GK, which I know you would like and we go into the season with Jackson as first choice, it would be a massive call and I wouldn't normally judge a player so early but with the lack of genuine top quality strikers out there, even fewer realistically available I'm almost thinking I want to give Jackson a proper go, he's looked so good so far.

Yeah I’d give him a go. But as you say, it would feel more secure to have at least a S2/S3 that isn’t Nkunku out of position and Broja. I get that. 

But since he has made such a promising start, what kind of striker can we realistically find that will be reasonably priced and of the right quality? It would almost certainly have to be another hidden gem and not an established “star”. Imagine if we were in a position where we had to give game time to Lukaku over Jackson solely based on Lukakus price tag? That would be devastating! 

[martin1905]

4 minutes ago, Sleeping Dave said:

Yeah I’d give him a go. But as you say, it would feel more secure to have at least a S2/S3 that isn’t Nkunku out of position and Broja. I get that. 

But since he has made such a promising start, what kind of striker can we realistically find that will be reasonably priced and of the right quality? It would almost certainly have to be another hidden gem and not an established “star”. Imagine if we were in a position where we had to give game time to Lukaku over Jackson solely based on Lukakus price tag? That would be devastating! 

Maybe the answer is someone like Lautaro Martinez? Someone who can play as an out and out forward or as a number 10/second striker.

Gives us lots of options and the opportunity to play two proper strikers if needed.

Kolo Muani is another one, he'd 100% be my first choice, can play out wide too, that type of versatile forward, especially when we are probably one players short in the AM/wide positions, even if we get Olise or Cherki, is probably what we are looking for.

Nkunku can and has played a fair bit out wide too.

[kev61]

The thing I can't understand is how can we pay 100 mil on a player that was nothing special even at his best and then buy a kid like jackson who looks much better than him in every way.

Now, it's early days and he might flop - but I would put my house on it, that he will be a massive improvement on Lulu - and the same can be said about Nkunku.

It begs the question - who was responsible for buying the likes of Lukaku,Ziyech, Babayoko,Drinkwater to name a few.

Every signing is a risk but hells bells we bought more tripe than your local butcher sells.

[xceleryx]

1 hour ago, kev61 said:

The thing I can't understand is how can we pay 100 mil on a player that was nothing special even at his best and then buy a kid like jackson who looks much better than him in every way.

Now, it's early days and he might flop - but I would put my house on it, that he will be a massive improvement on Lulu - and the same can be said about Nkunku.

It begs the question - who was responsible for buying the likes of Lukaku,Ziyech, Babayoko,Drinkwater to name a few.

Every signing is a risk but hells bells we bought more tripe than your local butcher sells.

I know it's fun to pile in on Lukaku and all that jazz, but they're not really comparable situations whatsoever. 

Lukaku, love him or hate him, was at the time a top 20 all-time Premier League goalscoring striker, plus had just come off the back of two prolific seasons in Italy. In a footballing world where proven striker aren't growing on trees like they once were in the 90's or even early 00's, there's now a premium on the few that are left. This is why he was priced as he was, along with simply being a key player for Inter. 

Lukaku excels in specific manner, just like a lot of other forwards do. Other than the first month or so of his arrival we did nothing to really maximum anything he was good at, nor had the sort of players in surrounding areas to provide the necessary supply. Jackson, while still with much to prove, looks better because he's a more rounded looking player in general. Did well in Spain at the back end of last season in a side that utilised him well, and now fits the sort of football we're trying to play here under Poch. We also have a more creative and dynamic supporting cast that'll work off and around him better. 

We've had more recent flops because there's been zero rhyme or reason to how we've targeted players. The constant changing of managers has meant a revolving door of styles, which has meant a player group all suiting different types of football, and the emphasis was more on the manager to just make it work. We seem to be changing that approach and already look a far more dynamic side that can operate in a more seamless manner. Hopefully we'll address the remaining holes we have and we'll look like an actual team out on the pitch all working together. 

[ROTG]

1 hour ago, kev61 said:

The thing I can't understand is how can we pay 100 mil on a player that was nothing special even at his best and then buy a kid like jackson who looks much better than him in every way.

Now, it's early days and he might flop - but I would put my house on it, that he will be a massive improvement on Lulu - and the same can be said about Nkunku.

 

Many of the same comparisons  were written about Lukaku when the club had Torres, aging Drogba and Pizzaro on the books and decided to loaned Lukaku out and ultimately sold him.

I am not a Lukaku fan and he needs to go due to his unprofessional actions. However trying to compare players who have never kicked a ball in the PL to an proven goal scorer is beyond me. Should Jackson or Nkunku  get 8 goals in the PL next season, then they are on par with Lukaku's poorest season in the PL

 

[kev61]

24 minutes ago, xceleryx said:

I know it's fun to pile in on Lukaku and all that jazz, but they're not really comparable situations whatsoever. 

Lukaku, love him or hate him, was at the time a top 20 all-time Premier League goalscoring striker, plus had just come off the back of two prolific seasons in Italy. In a footballing world where proven striker aren't growing on trees like they once were in the 90's or even early 00's, there's now a premium on the few that are left. This is why he was priced as he was, along with simply being a key player for Inter. 

Lukaku excels in specific manner, just like a lot of other forwards do. Other than the first month or so of his arrival we did nothing to really maximum anything he was good at, nor had the sort of players in surrounding areas to provide the necessary supply. Jackson, while still with much to prove, looks better because he's a more rounded looking player in general. Did well in Spain at the back end of last season in a side that utilised him well, and now fits the sort of football we're trying to play here under Poch. We also have a more creative and dynamic supporting cast that'll work off and around him better. 

We've had more recent flops because there's been zero rhyme or reason to how we've targeted players. The constant changing of managers has meant a revolving door of styles, which has meant a player group all suiting different types of football, and the emphasis was more on the manager to just make it work. We seem to be changing that approach and already look a far more dynamic side that can operate in a more seamless manner. Hopefully we'll address the remaining holes we have and we'll look like an actual team out on the pitch all working together. 

Cobblers.lukaku is the biggest mistake that should never be repeated.

[xceleryx]

2 minutes ago, kev61 said:

Cobblers.lukaku is the biggest mistake that should never be repeated.

That's hindsight for you.

He could've also netted 15-20 in the league and the opinion would be vastly different. 

As is always the case, the higher the transfer fee the greater the expectation and more critical the judgement is when that's not met. It's a story as old as time. 

Edited July 25, 2023 by xceleryx
Spelling

[Sleeping Dave]

5 minutes ago, xceleryx said:

That's hindsight for you.

 

At the time, a majority on this site didn’t need hindsight to call the Lukaku signing a big mistake. 

We are not even paid professionals. 

[kev61]

28 minutes ago, ROTG said:

Many of the same comparisons  were written about Lukaku when the club had Torres, aging Drogba and Pizzaro on the books and decided to loaned Lukaku out and ultimately sold him.

I am not a Lukaku fan and he needs to go due to his unprofessional actions. However trying to compare players who have never kicked a ball in the PL to an proven goal scorer is beyond me. Should Jackson or Nkunku  get 8 goals in the PL next season, then they are on par with Lukaku's poorest season in the PL

 

Can we take it that you are Lukaku sympathiser?

Edited July 25, 2023 by kev61

[xceleryx]

5 minutes ago, Sleeping Dave said:

At the time, a majority on this site didn’t need hindsight to call the Lukaku signing a big mistake. 

We are not even paid professionals. 

A lot also used their personal dislike and the price tag involved to draw their conclusion before even kicking a ball. 

I'll put this to you, do you think we did enough to maximise Lukaku's strengths? 

Given our history of shoehorning players I'd be surprised if you think we did.