Nicolas Jackson’s discipline does not appear to have improved after the Chelsea striker was shown two yellow cards in Senegal’s 0-0 draw with Saudi Arabia.
At the back end of the 2024/25 season, Jackson received two red cards while playing for Chelsea.
He then picked up another one last term while at Bayern Munich on loan and has now added to it with his sending off on Wednesday.
Nicolas Jackson or Liam Delap, which one are you keeping? Tell us who and why!
In his senior career, Jackson has been carded 34 times in total! Twenty-nine of the cards he has received have been yellow, while the other five were red.
For a striker, it is simply too many. His disciplinary record is why Chelsea fans lost patience with him and is something that Xabi Alonso is going to have to consider.
Jackson is open to staying at Chelsea, and many supporters were coming around to the idea. A lot of Chelsea fans would prefer to have Jackson than Liam Delap.
However, this latest display of ill-discipline is likely to cause the 24-year-old to lose their support again.
While Jackson was not part of Chelsea’s squad last season, ill-discipline was still a problem at Stamford Bridge. The Blues picked up an astonishing 11 red cards, with Wesley Fofana being dismissed on the final day of the campaign against Sunderland. Reintegrating Jackson is not going to help them in that department.
Ultimately, it is one of the first things that Alonso has to address once he begins working at Cobham. There needs to be activity in the transfer market as well.
Chelsea could do with a new goalkeeper, centre-back and left winger. In terms of outgoings, it may be wise to offload the likes of Delap and Alejandro Garnacho, who both struggled last term.
A Delap exit could pave the way for Jackson to return, but only if Alonso can be sure that he is going to be more disciplined on the pitch.
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