Chelsea appear close to ticking off one of their summer transfer priorities in the coming days as they look to complete the addition of a forward. Nicolas Jackson is said to be set to undergo a medical this weekend ahead of a £30 million and could be the Blues second arrival following in the footsteps of Christopher Nkunku.
The Villarreal forward's agent, Diomansy Kamara was in a meeting in London on Friday evening with Jackson thought to have travelled to the capital to complete the deal over the weekend. The 22 year-old comes in after an impressive end to the season saw him score nine times in his final eight appearances for the Yellow Submarine.
While Chelsea have plenty of business to do in the opposite direction, Jackson is unlikely to be their last incoming transfer with at least one central midfielder still among the club's priorities. The move for the Villarreal forward could even be indicative of what is to come next in itself.
Should Jackson arrive and join up with Chelsea's senior squad for 2023/24, he may already be set for an absence during the season. The forward could find himself with duties in the African Cup of Nations come the turn of the year.
The competition is set to take place in the Ivory Coast between January 13 and February 11 2024 and Jackson's nation Senegal have already qualified to be in contention with defending their throne after winning the tournament in 2021.
That would likely see Jackson, capped three times for The Lions of Teranga, miss matches versus the likes of Fulham, Liverpool, Wolves, Crystal Palace and Manchester City should he make the squad and Senegal do well in the competition. Edouard Mendy and Kalidou Koulibaly will also hope to be called up for the competition but appear set for moves to Saudi Arabia this summer.
READ MORE : Chelsea have no duty to appease 'unhappy' Man Utd but must avoid Mason Mount transfer pitfalls
With Chelsea seemingly happy to sign Jackson despite this being in mind it suggests one of two scenarios. Firstly that Armando Broja, who is already in pre-season training, could be trusted for a prominent role for the coming term after his efforts were cutshort via a season-ending injury during the World Cup break.
The Albania international already has Premier League experience and is bidding to prove to Mauricio Pochettino that he can lead Chelsea's line with a degree of expectation that fellow young forward David Datro Fofana could head out on loan. Of course, Nkunku could also provide some support in the winter months given his impress goalscoring record for RB Leipzig.
The second path could suggest that Chelsea are not yet done in repleninishing their forward stocks and could still yet look for a more established star to carry the burden however. The Blues have been linked to the likes of Victor Osimhen in the past, though his price is prohibitive whiel Dusan Vlahovic has also been linked.
Who should Chelsea keep or sell this summer? Let us know down below!
