Nicolas Jackson: Why Chelsea believe €35m signing can help end their goalscoring problems

Born in The Gambia, the smallest country in mainland Africa, Jackson was raised in neighbouring Senegal and would go on to commit to the Lions of Teranga at international level. He spent his childhood in the westerly-located city of Ziguinchor and joined local side ASC Tilene.

It did not take long for the giants of the region, Casa Sports, to take notice of Jackson's talents, though. And at 16 he would be placed with the first team, helping them to a mid-table finish in the Senegal Premier League.

International recognition arrived not long after. In November 2018, Jackson was called up by Senegal's Under-20 side, with manager Youssouph Dabo hailing his ability to "put on a show" and crediting his fine dribbling ability.

Like many Senegalese footballers before him, Jackson's big break came when he was snapped up by a European club. There wasn't much fanfare to greet his arrival, with Villarreal not even bothering to announce his signing in summer 2019.

He struggled to shift this anonymity during his early days at the Yellow Submarine, with a loan to second-tier Mirandes returning just one goal in 16 league appearances. He came back to Villarreal with his tail between his leg, but this retracing of steps would end up being the making of Jackson. Playing for the club's B team, he netted five times and registered seven assists to help his side get promoted to the Segunda Division.

He was handed a few first-team minutes during the 2021-22 season too, as well as a full debut in the Copa del Rey. Many people were now sitting up and taking notice of a player who wasn't even deemed worthy of a signing announcement just a few years earlier.

The 2021-22 season was Jackson's breakthrough, while 2022-23 marked his arrival as a fully-fledged first-teamer. He seemingly set the tone for a life-changing campaign on the very first day, ghosting in at the back post to finish off Yeremi Pino's low cross for his maiden senior goal.

This electric start proved hard to maintain, though, with Jackson netting just once more in the league before a hip injury ruled him out for a spell in the new year. This time away from the field proved to be a blessing in disguise, though.

When he returned, Jackson took no prisoners, with his comeback game representing one of the most chaotic 30-minute cameos in La Liga history. After netting a superb goal, where he beat three Real Sociedad defenders before finding the bottom corner, he conspired to pick up two yellow cards in the final 10 minutes of the contest, leaving him suspended for his side's trip to the Bernabeu the following weekend.

Not to be deterred, Jackson responded perfectly after coming back, netting nine goals in Villarreal's final eight games to help them cement their place in the top five. This quite astonishing burst of scoring form padded his end-of-season stats nicely (13 goals and five assists in 38 appearances).

There is a hell of a lot to like about Jackson's game. His finishing is his most obvious quality, with the caveat that a significant portion of his senior goals came during a purple patch towards the end of last season.

Even still, his record stacks up very favourably against some of the best young players in the world. No player aged 21 or younger boasted a better non-penalty goals per 90 minutes rate than Jackson in Europe's top five leagues during the 2022-23 campaign, with his numbers bettering those recorded by Evan Ferguson, Youssoufa Moukoko and Jamal Musiala.

Jackson has recorded plenty of poacher's efforts during his short career so far, impressing with his ability to produce one-touch finishes inside the box. However, he can create his own openings too. His lightning quick feet and pace gives him the tools to create separation between defenders before firing an effort at goal. His excellent strike against Real Sociedad displayed these qualities, and it's also reflected in the numbers.

Jackson completed 62.2 percent of his take-ons last season, with only five centre-forwards in Europe's top five leagues having more success in this regard. He is always a positive ball-carrier too, capable of picking the ball up out wide or in a deeper central position before driving towards goal. Jackson averaged 2.75 progressive carries per game last season, more than Mason Mount, Diogo Jota and Marcus Rashford.

His off-the-ball movement is another highlight. In a possession-heavy side like Villarreal - only Barcelona and Real Madrid enjoyed more of the ball than them in La Liga last season - getting in behind the opposition defence can be tricky. Jackson has had no such problem, regularly popping up in dangerous areas with space to run into.

This speaks to his footballing intelligence. Jackson knows when to pick his moments to spring in behind, which is an extremely promising sign in such a young player.

Rarely are 21-year-olds the finished product and Jackson is no different. Aerially, he can be dealt with without too many issues, with the frontman winning just 28.8% of his duels last season. As a point of comparison, Harry Kane, who Mauricio Pochettino used as his centre-forward at Spurs, won just shy of half of his aerial challenges.

There could also be concerns over Jackson acting as a focal point, should his side ever need to hold onto possession. While not horrendous with his back to goal, his hold-up play is far from elite and experienced defenders would be capable of giving him difficult games.

His defensive awareness could be better, too. Although his work rate cannot be questioned, Jackson completed just two interceptions last season. His blocking numbers were more encouraging, but it's pretty clear that Jackson can get better when his side is out of possession. Fortunately, time is very much on his side.

It's not the most imaginative comparison, but Jackson was dubbed 'The Senegalese Neymar' when he was rising through the ranks. It's easy to see why his game made people think of the Brazilian wizard. Both are wondrous dribblers who like to excite the crowd with their party tricks. Neymar and Jackson know where the back of the net is too, and can finish off their team-mates' work as well as doing it all themselves.

Predictably, Sadio Mane has been compared to Jackson too. In fairness, the players have more in common than simply sharing the same nationality. In fact, there were even some muted calls for Jackson to replace Mane in Senegal's World Cup side when the Bayern Munich man was ruled out through injury.

Continue on his current, upward trajectory and he could one day be revered in his homeland like the former Liverpool man is.

Back in September, then-Villarreal boss Unai Emery prophesied that Jackson would come good during his goal drought. "He is a player who is in the process of growing. There are times when some players have to go elsewhere to grow, but we are betting on him because his contribution is very high," Emery said after a draw against Sevilla. "He must get experience in front of goal and this is a learning process. We need to establish young players and we want to bet on them. Two years ago, [Alex] Baena had the same problem as Jackson."

Emery would be proved right, but he wouldn't be able to profit from his patience, as he left the club for Aston Villa in October. His successor, Quique Setien, would reap the rewards, though he revealed his fears that Jackson would leave the club this summer after his side's final game of the season.

"We already knew the potential. He had been injured for two-and-a-half months and he could not prove himself, but he is a footballer who now has eight goals in seven games, including two assists. The reality is that he is going to finish the season in a spectacular way, and the sadness for us is that the most likely thing is that someone will come and take him away, paying double what they paid then," he said in May.

Again, this prediction has come to pass, with Chelsea agreeing the deal to sig Jackson in mid-June. On the surface, Jackson joins a bloated squad. However, he could in fact start the season as Chelsea's first-choice striker.

Havertz has joined Arsenal, Armando Broja is still recovering from his ACL injury, while Romelu Lukaku's future is uncertain. If Pochettino can get the Blues clicking, Jackson can expect plenty of high-quality service from the Blues' wealth of creative options. And with finishing as lethal as his, don't be surprised if he ends up being one of the shrewdest additions of the summer transfer window.