Sport

Jackson red card may jeopardise his Chelsea future

Four minutes. That’s all it took Nicolas Jackson to see red after coming on in the second half of Chelsea’s Club World Cup game against Flamengo. The Blues were already trailing when the striker was sent off for a studs-up tackle on opposition defender Lucas Ayrton, but with 10 men they stood no chance of a comeback.

This wasn’t the first time a Jackson red card has cost Chelsea in recent times. He was also sent off in a match against Newcastle United towards the end of the Premier League season, effectively ending his campaign early due to a three-game suspension. Jackson has become a liability.

“I want to say sorry. To the club, the staff, my team-mates, and all the fans watching, I let you down,” said Jackson in a statement posted to his social media accounts after the red card against Flamengo at the Club World Cup. “Another red card… and honestly, I’m so angry at myself.

“I work hard every day to help the team not to put us in this kind of situation. I still don’t fully understand how it happened. But one thing is clear: it wasn’t intentional. Just a football moment that went the wrong way. No excuses. I take full responsibility. I’ll reflect, I’ll grow, and I’ll come back stronger for the badge and for everyone who believes in me. Sorry.”

Jackson couldn’t have timed his latest indiscretion any worse. The arrival of Liam Delap at Stamford Bridge has given the Senegalese international genuine competition for his place in the Chelsea lineup with the former Ipswich Town striker already making a good impression at the Club World Cup.

While Delap has still to score his first goal in blue, he produced an excellent assist for Enzo Fernandez in the 2-0 win over Los Angeles FC and has given Chelsea a different dimension with his running and movement. The 22-year-old already looks well worth the £30m outlay it took to lure him from Portland Road.

“I am curious to see how Nico (Jackson) reacts (to Delap’s signing),” said Enzo Maresca when asked about the competition between the two centre forwards. “He competed with [Marc] Guiu who is very young during the season. They are both good number nines.” Jackson, however, might have been knocked down the pecking order and he only has himself to blame.

Jackson has reached double figures in each of his first two Premier League seasons. He has been Chelsea’s most reliable centre forward, but there is a sense that the 24-year-old’s development has stalled recently. Much of this is due to the injuries he suffered last season, but Jackson isn’t improving in the way Chelsea has surely hoped when they signed him from Villarreal in 2023.

Chelsea’s transfer strategy is to sign some of the best young players in the world and develop them into fully fledged superstars. They have done this with Cole Palmer and Jackson certainly has the potential to become one of the best players in his position. His movement is good and his scoring record is better than many are willing to admit.

Delap, however, might be better than Jackson in a few areas. He is more comfortable holding up the ball. He is physically stronger and more capable fighting against opposition defenders. There is also a sense that Delap is more clinical in front of goal – he scored 12 goals for an Ipswich team that gave him almost no service last season.

There will be opportunities for Jackson to reassert himself in the Chelsea squad. The Blues will be back in the Champions League next season and so Maresca will have to make good use of his full squad. Nonetheless, Jackson might look back at this summer as a turning point in his career at Stamford Bridge.