Mauricio Pochettino finalises third Chelsea transfer as 'full agreement' reached for £30m move

Chelsea have reached a full agreement with Villareal to sign Nicolas Jackson, according to a new report. The 22-year-old Senegal international emerged as a shock target for the Blues last week and since then a deal to make him Mauricio Pochettino's third transfer since becoming Chelsea boss has advanced considerably.

Moves for Kendry Paez and Christopher Nkunku have already been confirmed by the club but the signing of Jackson is really the first of the Pochettino era. As per transfer guru Fabrizio Romano, Chelsea will not pay €35m (£29.9m) release clause but instead have agreed to slightly higher fee which will be paid through instalments.

Jackson scored 12 goals in 26 La Liga games last season with the bulk of his strikes coming towards the latter stages of the campaign. A hip injury saw nearly two months of action in 2023, but he returned all guns blazing as he fired in nine goals from the final eight games, with two assists also coming his way in one match.

Personal terms were agreed towards the early stages of negotiations and with a full agreement reached on a payment plan, a medical has been set. According to Relevo journalist Matteo Moretto, Jackson is already in London and will undergo test in the next few hours with the signing then likely to be announced in the following days.

Aston Villa manager Unai Emery use to coach Jackson at Villareal and has given Chelsea fans an idea of their new signings qualities. As quoted by One Football, the former Villarreal boss said: "He is a player who is in the process of growing.

"There are times when some players have to go elsewhere to grow, but we are betting on him because his contribution is very high. He must get experience in front of goal and this is a learning process. We need to establish young players and we want to bet on them. Two years ago [Alex] Baena had the same problem as Jackson."

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The Blues had set out the aim on Monday to complete his arrival by the end of the week and that goal has now been achieved. Making significant progress to acquire Moises Caicedo from Brighton was also a hope for those at Stamford Bridge, but that may be unlikely.

Mateo Kovacic, Kai Havertz, Kalidou Koulibaly, Edouard Mendy and Hakim Ziyech are all on the verge of sealing exits, but the Blues want to finalise Mount's move to Manchester United before any formal bid is made for Caicedo.

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