For the second half of this season, Nicolas Jackson was the only recognised striker in Chelsea’s squad.
Considering that, it would be a surprise if Chelsea did not sign a new centre-forward this summer, especially with so many rumours floating around about them doing so.
There is no guarantee that whoever the Blues bring in will be a success, especially if he is arriving from a foreign league.
However, one No.9 who is being linked with a move to Chelsea does look like he could be an upgrade on Jackson.
How did Nicolas Jackson perform during the 2023/24 season?
Jackson did not actually do too badly this term, especially considering that this was his first season in England.
The Senegal international is only 22 as well but still managed to score 17 goals in all competitions for Chelsea.
It was not enough to get the Blues back into the Champions League, though. It was not even enough to help them qualify for the Europa League after Manchester United’s triumph in the FA Cup final.
However, had Mauricio Pochettino had a fit squad for the whole campaign, it may have been a different story.
Benjamin Sesko could be an upgrade on Nicolas Jackson
RB Leipzig’s Benjamin Sesko could be the man to come in and provide Jackson with competition this summer.
According to journalist Philipp Hinze, Chelsea are one of several Premier League clubs in the race to sign Sesko and the 21-year-old has a €65m (£55m) release clause that can be triggered before the end of June.
This season, Sesko scored 14 goals in the Bundesliga, the same number that Jackson managed in the Premier League.
However, Sesko played fewer games (31) compared to Jackson (35) and overperformed his xG by 5.98, the biggest xG overperformance in his division, according to WhoScored.
Jackson, in contrast, underperformed his xG by 4.66. What it shows is that in a stronger team like Chelsea who are likely to create better chances than Leipzig next season, Sesko has the potential to score more goals than Jackson.
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