Nicolas Jackson completed his £30million transfer to Chelsea on Friday night and already believes he will do 'amazing' things with the club. The Senegal international has signed an eight-year deal at Stamford Bridge after netting nine times in eight matches to end the La Liga season with Villarreal.
The striker is Chelsea's second senior transfer of the summer, following the arrival of Christopher Nkunku and will soon join up to play under Mauricio Pochettino, who himself starts work at Cobham in the coming week. While Jackson all but secured a move to Bournemouth in January, but failed his medical as he suffered a hip problem in the early stages of 2023, his ambition was always to hit the heights of a team such as the Blues.
"I feel I'm going to do amazing things here. See you soon Stamford Bridge," said the 22-year-old in a video following the announcement of his transfer but in a more in-depth interview with the official club website, Jackson divulged the Chelsea stars he looked up to as a child and the number of people who influenced his decisions to make a move to west London happen.
He explained: "This is the first time I’ve been to Stamford Bridge, it’s perfect. It’s very big and the fans are near the pitch. The Villarreal stadium is like that, so I’m used to the fans being right up close to the pitch and I like that a lot.
"I wanted to join a big team and Chelsea is one of the best teams in the world, plus I’ve watched them since I was young. I watched Demba Ba, Didier Drogba, Nicolas Anelka was good too, big players. So I always dreamed of playing for a team like this.
"When Chelsea came there was no question in my mind. I always had this kind of team in my mind. I talked to my family and my agent and I have icons who played here – Drogba and Ba, big strikers. So when Chelsea came my heart said the answer should be yes and I decided to follow it and come here.
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"I remember the Champions League final in 2012 and especially when Drogba scored that header right at the end. I watched those players for Chelsea when I was growing up so I decided to follow in their footsteps. Hopefully, that’s what continues to happen now I’m here."
Jackson's agent, is former Fulham and West Brom striker Diomansy Kamara, who knows the area, while the ex-La Liga star was around Demba Ba during his last international camp. The young forward even had a gift for the former Chelsea striker.
"It’s amazing to have this feeling," added Jackson, "I watched English football when I was in Africa and now I am here, so it’s a good feeling for me. I grew up watching the Premier League because for me it is the best league in the world, so I love the Premier League and I know a lot about it and Chelsea.
"I met Demba when I went to Senegal with the national team and wanted to ask him about Chelsea when I saw him during the last international break, but I couldn’t because there were too many people around. So I decided to wait and text him about it once I have signed for Chelsea and send him the shirt I wore for my signing too.
"I spoke to my agent Diomansy Kamara about the Premier League as well, because he played in England for a few teams, including Fulham, so he knows the league and this area. He told me everything about playing here so I know a lot about it."
Jackson notched up 12 goals over the course of the season for the Yellow Submarine and struggled to find the net in the early stages of the season before his lightning run to close the season. While he could not regularly trouble the net too often under Unai Emery, Jackson is not surprised by what he has been able to produce, and has high standards. He is actually disappointed with the season that has led to his arrival at Chelsea.
He said: "I wasn’t amazed or surprised at how well my season went, I wanted to do more! I didn’t do enough for me, because I had my goals to reach but I didn’t achieve the goals I wanted. It was very good but I wanted more."
He added: "I knew it was coming because I was working so hard. Everything just takes time and hard work. Before I was thinking that if I scored all the chances I had, I would have scored maybe 30 goals. I was working hard because I was missing some chances, but later I improved a lot and I improved everything, so I knew it would happen sooner or later and I was ready for it.’
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