Chelsea’s No. 9 Congestion: Nicolas Jackson Lost in the Traffic Jam | OneFootball

Being a striker can be isolating, especially at Chelsea, where strikers come and go like seasons. For Nicolas Jackson, the loneliness is becoming increasingly apparent as he faces the harsh reality of fleeting opportunities and mounting pressure.

Two years ago, Chelsea rolled the dice on Jackson—a £32 million signing from Villarreal. A player brimming with pace and potential and arriving in a summer marked by uncertainty up front. Batshuayi, Higuaín, Morata, Werner, and Lukaku, like tourists passing, had cycled through the club. All came and went, none able to settle. Jackson was meant to be the exception: raw, but with the potential to finally grow into the role that had haunted so many before him. But football is not a patient game, and at Stamford Bridge, it is an audition room with revolving doors.

Chelsea’s No. 9: The Position with No Patience

In the years since Didier Drogba left in 2012, Chelsea has transitioned through No. 9s with little success. Lukaku’s second coming was a PR disaster. Morata arrived with a reputation and left with regret. Werner ran himself into the ground. It is a pattern that now feels structural, not circumstantial. In fact, only Diego Costa could be considered a success, but he had only really been that for two seasons.

No forward has lasted long at the club due to mismatched systems and vanishing patience. At Chelsea, the No. 9 shirt has become a burden, not a badge. It asks for power, goals, charisma, hold-up play, and pressing—all in one, and modern strikers are rarely afforded the luxury of being just one kind of player.

In this sense, Jackson is simply the latest chapter in a decade-long saga. But unlike many of his predecessors, he does not have the pedigree to demand patience. He arrived not as a £75 million headline-maker, but as a £32 million project. And Chelsea, in their current structure, offer little patience for development. They cycle through talents, reload, and rarely look back. That culture is the greatest threat to Nicolas Jackson.

The Unpolished Rise

Nicolas Jackson was billed as Chelsea’s bold experiment—a raw finisher with electric pace, signed not for who he was, but who he could become. That potential still lingers, but so does frustration. He runs, he presses, he works, but when the goal beckons, composure deserts him. His impulsive decision-making and wastefulness in front of the goal have hurt Chelsea in decisive moments.

His debut season was, at best, a mixed bag. Scoring 17 goals in 44 games is no disaster, especially in a struggling side still adjusting to the demands of Mauricio Pochettino. But the numbers only tell part of the story.

There were glimpses of brilliance: his creative synergy with Cole Palmer and a hat-trick at Spurs in a chaotic 4–1 win. He pressed relentlessly, ran the channels, and worked like someone desperate to belong. But equally, there were glaring misses and stretches where his decision-making looked less like a Premier League frontman. After the 2-1 win against Brentford at Stamford Bridge last season, former Tottenham head coach Tim Sherwood told Premier League Productions:

His confidence flickers in and out, like a signal never fully locked in. And at a club that demands immediate impact, those moments add up. They calcify in the minds of fans, analysts, and eventually, decision-makers.

Jackson is polarising and has become the subject of online debates—is he raw but promising, or chaotic and unreliable? Speaking on the Obi One Podcast, former Chelsea striker Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink said:

Chelsea legend John Obi Mikel, speaking as a pundit for beIN Sports during halftime of the opening game at Stamford Bridge last season against Manchester City, highlighted Nicolas Jackson’s hesitance in front of goal. He pointed out the young forward’s lack of ruthlessness, noting that it is this very trait that distinguishes great players from the elites, he said:

Still, Chelsea persisted. Perhaps, until now.

Liam Delap: The No. 9 Chelsea Needs to Challenge Jackson

Former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy says Delap has got all the attributes to be a top international player. He further touted him as the long-term successor to Harry Kane.

At Manchester City’s academy, Delap was viewed as a generational No. 9—strong, direct, and purpose-built for the role. He finished the 2024/25 campaign with 12 league goals at Ipswich and is the kind of physical presence Chelsea’s attack often lacks. Forged in the EFL, refined at Ipswich, and now he arrives at Chelsea with a burning hunger to prove himself. At 22, Delap is not a player in waiting; he is the looming presence that could turn Jackson’s lapses into a question that resonates louder with each missed opportunity.

Delap brings valuable centre-forward attributes—aerial ability, hold-up play, and a clinical instinct in the box. He is not a headline name at Stamford Bridge yet, but he could be. He remains a work in progress, but in a Chelsea system modelled to create high-percentage chances, the ask is clear—finish them. And that is where Jackson has fallen short.

João Pedro: The Spark That Could Shift Chelsea’s Attack

Signed from Brighton for £55 million, this Firmino-esque, graceful forward is already leaving his mark. Where Jackson plays in sprints and power surges, João Pedro glides in controlled bursts. He links, thinks, and combines—exactly the kind of profile the fluid system at Chelsea needs.

In the Club World Cup semifinal against Fluminense at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, João Pedro, just weeks into his Chelsea career, seized the moment with two audacious goals, sending Chelsea into the final and making a statement in the process. Jackson, benched and visibly uneasy, gave little away. Was he mentally processing his situation or coming to terms with the harsh reality that, in the upcoming season, his place in the team might be shaped less by his own performance and more by the shortcomings of those currently ahead of him?

Comparative Analysis: Jackson vs Delap vs Pedro

Chelsea’s Ruthless Talent Pipeline

Unlike traditional nurturing environments, the BlueCo consortium’s hyper-scrutinised, high-capital model treats patience not as a virtue but as a cost. Their model now resembles a talent factory as much as a football club. You are either performing or you are in the shop window.

In Spain or France, Jackson might be allowed to grow through his struggles, to learn the rhythm of elite football without intense scrutiny. But at a club as big as Chelsea, every misstep is amplified. Every missed chance replayed, clipped, and dissected on social media. Chelsea fans, once forgiving of younger players, now demand immediate results. The new Chelsea blueprint is clear and uncompromising: stockpile high-ceiling young talents, retain those who deliver, and cut losses early on those who don’t. For Jackson, that means adjusting his efficiency and end product or risking being overtaken.

Valued or Trapped?

Chelsea’s reported valuation of Nicolas Jackson at £100 million has sent a clear signal. On paper, it is a bold, strategic figure, one that helps protect Chelsea’s books under financial regulations and projects strength in the transfer market. For Jackson, it complicates everything, introducing a new kind of pressure, not just to perform but to justify a valuation that is no reflection of who he is but who Chelsea once hoped he might become. And in that sense, it feels less like a compliment and more like a cage.

For interested clubs, it is a deterrent. No side will commit nine figures for a striker still grappling with composure in front of goal. Clubs that have shown interest may now baulk at the price.

The irony is striking: a price tag meant to elevate his status might now inhibit his mobility—a striker too costly to chase yet too incomplete to trust.

At Chelsea, the Road Is Always Congested

Nicolas Jackson is not a failure. He is a striker out of sync with his environment—a talent caught in the churn of one of modern football’s most unforgiving institutions. At Chelsea, there are no empty lanes, only constant scrutiny, rising pressure, and someone always ready to overtake. With Liam Delap offering a more traditional physical profile and João Pedro bringing a level of technical refinement Chelsea’s attack has long lacked, his margin for error narrows, and with competitors closing in, the spotlight only intensifies.

So for now, Jackson might still be on the road, but maybe not in the right lane anymore.

The Forked Path

With Liam Delap joining from Ipswich and João Pedro making positive headlines at the Club World Cup, Jackson’s grip on the No. 9 role looks increasingly fragile. In a squad saturated with youthful attacking options, the young Senegalese forward is facing a challenge that was nonexistent last season: genuine competition. And for the first time, he might be losing the race.

Of course, all of this could change with a goal or a match-winning performance. Football is as unforgiving as it is fickle.