Chelsea fans are now rejoicing and believe that their striker crisis is finally resolved, all thanks to an incredible piece of play displayed by their new signing, Nicolas Jackson.
The 22-year-old forward was acquired from Villarreal for a transfer fee of just over £30 million on a notable eight-year contract.
Amidst the focus on Chelsea’s outgoing transfers, Jackson’s arrival at Stamford Bridge went somewhat unnoticed.
However, last season, Jackson’s goal-scoring abilities suddenly emerged, seemingly out of nowhere.
Despite having only scored one senior goal prior to the campaign, he quickly became a prominent figure in the team and dramatically increased his career tally by mid-October.
Unfortunately, an injury during the World Cup interrupted his progress, and by April, he had only managed to score three goals for the season.
Nonetheless, Chelsea fans remain optimistic and are excited about Jackson’s potential impact at the club.
His impressive skills and goal-scoring prowess have given them renewed hope, suggesting that their striker crisis might be resolved with his presence in the team.
But Jackson then exploded into life, firing in nine goals in eight La Liga games to finish the campaign.
That prompted the move to Stamford Bridge, and the Senegal international has already adapted well to life at his new club.
Having scored one and assisted three in his opening two friendlies for Mauricio Pochettino’s side, Jackson took his game to a new level against Newcastle on Wednesday night.
Jackson skill goes viral
The striker scored the Blues’ only goal in their 1-1 draw against Eddie Howe’s side, a superb strike in the 76th minute to level the game.
But the viral moment that many fans were focusing on came in a separate passage of play.
As Newcastle looked to clear a Chelsea opportunity away, the ball fell to Magpies winger Anthony Gordon, who went for the corner before attempting a clearance up field.
But he was harried all the way by a relentless Jackson, who then shoved (fairly) Newcastle’s number 10 off the ball before successfully winning it back.
The forward then evaded the tackle of Sven Botman with a sublime touch, before charging towards the penalty area.
That wasn’t all, though. Jackson then produced a series of stepovers which almost floored the backpedalling Newcastle midfielder Alex Miley.
His attempted cross to the back post was then blocked by the feet of Nick Pope, with the ball going out for a Chelsea corner. You can see the clip below.
Win the ball ➡️ show off the stepover 😤
Nicolas Jackson was doing it all for @ChelseaFC #PLSummerSeries pic.twitter.com/itAWVxPEXA
— Premier League (@premierleague) July 27, 2023
Taking to Twitter to react to the skill, one Chelsea fan wrote: “Whoever scouted Jackson for us needs to be promoted. He’s the striker we’ve been missing up front.”
Another said: “This is all you need to know about our star boy.”
A third added: “Nicolas Jackson is our new Drogba.”
Meanwhile, another supporter wrote: “This is the player we’ve been looking for.”
And another compared him to a former Chelsea star: “Nicolas Jackson is the closest we have seen to Diego Costa. Unreal striker.”