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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Sport
Sam Tabuteau and Dom Smith

Nicolas Jackson to join Chelsea exodus as Aston Villa agree £65m transfer

Aston Villa are closing in on signing Nicolas Jackson from Chelsea.

Standard Sport understands the total package — which includes performance-related add-ons — will be worth £65million.

Villa acted on their interest in Jackson after it became clear Ollie Watkins was angling to leave the club. He is expected to leave Villa for Al Hilal.

Chelsea decided to consider selling Jackson this summer after he returned from a season-long loan at Bayern Munich, which would have become permanent if he had started more Bundesliga games.

The Blues have also been open to offers for strikers Liam Delap and Marc Guiu as they look to trim their attacking options under Xabi Alonso.

Nicolas Jackson will leave Chelsea on a permanent deal after spending last season playing as Harry Kane’s understudy on loan at Bayern Munich (AFP/Getty)
Nicolas Jackson will leave Chelsea on a permanent deal after spending last season playing as Harry Kane’s understudy on loan at Bayern Munich (AFP/Getty)

Delap is expected to leave the Blues after Nottingham Forest agreed to pay up to £50m, including add-ons, for the England forward.

Forest are set to pay £45m plus a further £5m in add-ons for Delap, with Chelsea set to bank a tidy profit on the 23-year-old just a year on from signing him from Ipswich Town for £30m.

Ipswich are due around 15 per cent of any profit Chelsea make from selling Delap to Forest.

Guiu is also closing in on an exit before the end of the transfer window. As Standard Sport reported last week, the 20-year-old is weighing up loan and permanent options from three clubs in Italy, Germany and Spain.

Napoli are among the clubs interested and would want to sign Guiu on a permanent deal, with Chelsea holding out for around £25m for the former Barcelona frontman.

The Serie A giants also held an interest in Jackson but were put off by Chelsea’s £65m valuation.

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