Aston Villa and Newcastle United have expressed interest in signing Chelsea striker Nicolas Jackson, according to reports.
Jackson has scored 26 goals in 68 appearances for Chelsea since completing a £32m move from La Liga side Villarreal in 2023.
The Senegal international scored 17 goals in all competitions during his first season at Stamford Bridge despite attracting criticism for his finishing.
Arsenal legend Ian Wright and ex-Chelsea captain Frank Lampard were among those to criticise Jackson’s ability in the final third.
Jackson appeared to take his game to another level at the start of this season, however, scoring nine goals in 16 games to help Chelsea emerge as surprise title challengers in the Premier League.
The 23-year-old has reverted to type over the past two months, though, going eight games without a goal for a Chelsea team who have slipped from seven to fourth in the Premier League and exited the FA Cup.
Jackson is currently sidelined with a hamstring injury and Blues boss Enzo Maresca believes his absence was felt in Chelsea’s FA Cup defeat to Brighton last weekend.
Maresca is not the only admirer of Jackson, who has attracted interest from Chelsea’s Premier League rivals Aston Villa and Newcastle United, according to The Sun.
It is claimed both Villa and Newcastle are monitoring Jackson’s situation ahead of possible summer moves.
Despite Maresca rating Jackson highly, Chelsea are expected to sign a new striker in the summer and that could lead to discontent and reduced playing time for the Senegalese star.
Aston Villa sold Jhon Duran to Saudi Pro League side Al-Nassr in January and also rejected an offer from Arsenal for fellow striker Ollie Watkins.
Unai Emery blocked Watkins’ exit after Duran moved on but Villa are at least considering their options should clubs including Arsenal come back in this summer.
Newcastle are in a similar situation with Alexander Isak, who has been hailed as the ‘best striker in the Premier League’ following his exploits at St James’ Park this season.
Eddie Howe has no intention of losing Isak, who his club value at more than £100m, but interest from some of the biggest clubs in the world has forced Newcastle to consider life after the Swedish talisman.
Jackson is in the thoughts of both Aston Villa and Newcastle United but The Sun say Atletico Madrid are also weighing up a summer move, having admired him during his spell at fellow La Liga club Villarreal.
Discussing Jackson’s impact for Chelsea after he missed the FA Cup defeat to Brighton, Maresca said: ‘Sometimes I think you need to play some games without players to realise how important they are.
‘Off the ball, his pressing is always very good and on the ball he is a threat always.’
Giving an update on Jackson’s injury earlier this week, Maresca added: ‘We knew it was a muscular problem but we didn’t know how important it was.
‘His reaction was quite good so we all thought that was not a big injury but unfortunately he had the scan a few days ago and it was important one. He will be around six or eight weeks.’
Chelsea will look for revenge against Brighton on Friday night, with Christopher Nkunku likely to play up top in Jackson’s absence.
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