Nicolas Jackson may be the most misunderstood striker in the Premier League. When you build your perfect modern striker, the list reads like this: pace, strength, link-up play, movement in behind, pressing, aggression and an ability to create chances at will. Now ask yourself, who does that remind you of?
When the crowd laments five missed chances in a game, I see something different. I see the only striker in the league who gets five chances in a game. And I ask you this: what is harder to coach, all of those attributes, or improving a conversion rate from 15% to 20%? At 20%, you are looking at a goal a game. At 25%, you are looking at a machine.
Nicolas Jackson spent three seasons at Chelsea where he divided opinion, more Marmite than mighty. The modern fan has the memory of a goldfish, rarely seeing beyond the last five games. Take a step back and the numbers tell a different story. In his debut season at Stamford Bridge, Jackson scored 17 goals in 44 appearances. Didier Drogba, in his first Chelsea season, scored 16 in 41. Jackson edged him. And remember, Drogba walked into Mourinho’s 2004/05 juggernaut, a side that won the league with 95 points and conceded just 15 goals all season. Jackson had no such luxury.
This is why I am tipping Nicolas Jackson to prove the doubters wrong and emerge as one of the signings of the summer. Signed by Aston Villa for £65m, he returns to work under Unai Emery, one of the most accomplished managers in the Premier League, and there is no more telling signal in football than a manager who eagerly pursues a former player. He joins what I believe will be one of the most exciting attacking units in the league, Jackson, Manzambi and the teenage Senegalese sensation Ibrahim Mbaye.
So what does a great season look like for Nicolas Jackson? Close your eyes in any pub in England and someone will shout twenty Premier League goals. But last season, in the entire Premier League, only two players hit twenty non-penalty goals, one of them being Erling Haaland, who managed 22. And that is measuring a striker on one KPI alone. A truly high performance season looks more like this: 15 goals, 10 assists, 25 goal contributions. That is the complete striker’s return. And if this new attacking unit can gel quickly, Villa have a genuine shot at Champions League football.
This is an elite footballer, not a spreadable meat extract. So when analysing Jackson this year, watch his game, watch what he brings to the team, get ready for plenty of goals, assists and yellow cards (and a few open goal stinkers too!). Because just like his namesake, Jackson is box office!
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Nicholas Bull is a British real estate entrepreneur who has called Dubai home for 12 years. A lifelong sports fanatic, he talks all things sport and property.
