Nicolas Jackson is ‘open’ to the possibility of returning to Chelsea but the club believe they have already signed his long-term replacement.
Jackson spent two seasons at Stamford Bridge, scoring 30 goals in 81 appearances, before joining Bayern Munich on loan last summer.
The Senegal striker enjoyed a promising first season at Chelsea but failed to kick on last term despite the Blues qualifying for the Champions League and winning the Europa Conference League.
Jackson was delighted to join Bayern, even staying in Munich when Chelsea threatened to block the deal, and had hoped to earn a permanent move to the Bundesliga giants.
Bayern Munich spent around £14m just to sign Jackson on loan and agreed a deal with Chelsea to make the deal permanently this summer for a further £56m.
But that clause would only be activated if Jackson made a set number of appearances for Bayern and it quickly became apparently that he would fall short.
Playing back-up to England captain Harry Kane, Jackson has only started five league games and two Champions League games so far this season.
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That means Jackson will fail to activate an obligation-to-buy clause in his loan agreement and will likely return to Chelsea at the end of the season.
Bayern would of course still have the option to renew talks with Chelsea and agreed a new deal but that appears unlikely given Jackson has only scored five goals in all competitions.
Jackson attracted interest from clubs in England, Italy and Spain last summer but has not ruled out the possibility of returning to Chelsea, according to The Times.
Enzo Maresca was in charge at the time of Jackson’s Chelsea departure but the Italian has since been sacked and replaced by Liam Rosenior.
As a result Jackson is ‘leaving his options open’, although Chelsea are reportedly planning for life without the 24-year-old and believe they have already signed his replacement.
The Blues paid almost £100m for Brighton’s Joao Pedro and Ipswich Town’s Liam Delap last summer, while they also confirmed a pre-agreement to sign Emanuel Emegha from partner club Strasbourg.
Netherlands international Emegha, 23, decided to stay at the French side for another season before moving to west London in 2026.
Emegha scored 14 goals last season and has seven in 11 appearances during the current campaign, which has been plagued by injury issues.
Chelsea have high hopes for the Dutchman and Fabrizio Romano has suggested they see Emegha as Jackson’s replacement given their similar styles of play.
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While Jackson was hardly prolific for Chelsea, a number of pundits were critical of the decision to move him on last summer.
Arsenal legend and Chelsea fan Paul Merson, for example, said: ‘Up front, I think the decision to let Nicolas Jackson leave is coming back to bite them a bit.’
While Jackson’s opportunities at Bayern have been limited, he is still set to be part of their Bundesliga-winning squad, with Vincent Kompany’s sidesix points ahead of second-placed Borussia Dortmund.
Bayern Munich are also one of the favourites to win the Champions League having finished second behind Arsenal in the eight-game group stage.
Jackson’s parent Chelsea are fifth in the Premier League and also advanced straight through to the knockout stages of the Champions League.
They beat Championship side Hull City 4-0 in the FA Cup on Friday night and return to Premier League action on Saturday against relegation-battlers Burnley.
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