Ian Wright has questioned Chelsea’s decision to sell Nicolas Jackson after the promising start to his Aston Villa career.
Jackson has scored seven goals in 11 appearances since moving to Villa Park in a £65m summer deal from Chelsea.
Chelsea signed the Senegal striker from Villarreal in 2023 and were encouraged by his first season at Stamford Bridge in which he netted 17 goals in all competitions.
Jackson’s contributions fell away during the 2024-25 campaign, however, and Chelsea sent him on loan to Bayern Munich last season.
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Bayern paid Chelsea £14m for the loan and agreed to sign Jackson on a permanent deal for a further £56m if he met certain conditions, including a set number of appearances.
But playing back-up to England captain and new Ballon d’Or winner Harry Kane prevented Jackson from achieving that so he returned to west London in the summer.
The presence of Joao Pedro at Stamford Bridge complicated Jackson’s future and Chelsea sanctioned his permanent move to Aston Villa, with the striker reuniting with his former Villarreal boss Unai Emery.
Jackson scored in three successive games earlier in the season and bagged a brace in Aston Villa’s impressive win over Premier League leaders Manchester City at the weekend.
Discussing the 25-year-old forward on The Overlap, Manchester United legend Gary Neville said: ‘Is Nicolas Jackson the most improved player in the Premier League?
‘I always thought he would be a good signing for someone because he’s a handful, I would hate to play against him. I do like him.’
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Former Arsenal and England striker Wright then said: ‘I’m delighted for him.
‘When you watched him at Chelsea, yes he missed chances but everything else about his game… the way he makes runs, plays on the shoulder, his touch… you knew that if he could just start nicking some goals, he would be fine.
‘You’re looking at him now after scoring a few goals and you can actually see the confidence in him. He could go on a run at Villa, it’s up to him now where he goes.’
Aston Villa boss Emery was full of praise for Jackson after Saturday’s win over Manchester City, hailing his ‘quality and his power’.
‘Mature, experience, confidence, and he is very demanding himself,’ Emery said when asked about Villa’s Player of the Match.
‘Very demanding himself to improve things. Today, he scored two goals, but the last matches he’s scoring goals too.
‘But at the beginning of the season, to adapt to us was more difficult, and he was shooting a lot of balls over the crossbar.
‘Now, he’s getting his shots better, as well he’s working fantastic tactically, fantastic. Sometimes he can drop, because he’s good at getting duels, but we need him more running in behind.
‘He has his quality and his power. His speed is fantastic, and as well his capacity to get duels man-to-man, or to attack players to pass for another.
‘So today, he scored two goals, but the most important how he did his work, his task.’
Chelsea striker Pedro enjoyed a promising start to the season, scoring five goals in his first six appearances, but has missed the club’s last two games through injury.
The Brazilian missed Chelsea’s Carabao Cup last-16 defeat to Liverpool on Wednesday and will be absent this weekend when struggling Manchester United visit Stamford Bridge.
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