Nicolas Jackson’s improvement this season has helped Maresca start strongly at Chelsea | OneFootball

Nicolas Jackson has been a big talking point at Chelsea ever since his arrival last summer.

When he was brought in from La Liga, where he scored 12 goals in 16 starts for Villarreal in the 2022/23 season, there were high hopes for what he could bring to the Blues. Since joining Chelsea, though, he has had a mixed time, but seems to have turned a corner this season.

Last campaign he bagged 14 Premier League goals, which for a debut season, was very impressive. But Chelsea fans who were watching every game would fairly complain about his finishing ability and decision-making. He was getting himself into good positions and on the end of good chances, but too often he was failing to find the back of the net.

He missed the third most big chances of any player in the Premier League last season, according to the Premier League’s own stats, with 24. Erling Haaland and Darwin Nunez missed more, but also had a lot more chances.

This season though, that seems to have changed. Perhaps the perfect example of this was his goal in the 2-1 loss to Liverpool. He was played through by Moises Caicedo and one on one with the keeper, he calmly dispatched the chance.

Another good example is his two goals against West Ham in their earlier season win. He twice went through on goal and calmly slotted past the keeper. Last season the end result may have been different.

His strengths have always been evident, a strong runner, very powerful and a good utiliser of space, able to make chances for himself. He ranks among the best strikers for successful take-ons in Europe’s top five leagues over the past year, according to FB ref, sitting in the 89th percentile for that metric. He is also in the 79th percentile for progressive carries with an average of 2.20 a game.

His all-round game has never been in doubt but this season it looks like he has the finishing to back it up, the most important skill for any striker.

He has six goals and three assists in the league, but even more encouraging than that, his general play has been brilliant. His five big chances missed rank him only joint eighth most of all Premier League players, and his finishing and composure has certainly improved.

Chelsea fans were hoping to sign Victor Osimhen or Viktor Gyökeres in the summer, but they might now be more accepting that those deals did come to fruition.

A big signing worth £70 million+ would have more than likely relegated Jackson to a bench role, which at this stage of his development would have been a huge shame. Playing game in, game out is really helping him, especially because one of his biggest strengths is that even when he fails, he is ready to go again. Some strikers are not so resilient.

Chelsea signed the Senegalese striker for £32m last summer and at the moment, it looks like it could be a steal. With the way Jackson is playing, and the skillset that he possesses, there is no reason why he cannot become one of the very best strikers in the world.