Nicolas Jackson’s agent Diomansy Kamara has revealed that the striker almost joined another club instead of Chelsea during the summer transfer window.
Nicolas Jackson left Villarreal for Chelsea in July, but Kamara has told USCatanzarocalcionews that his client nearly moved to AC Milan before his switch to Stamford Bridge.
“The player did well, many offers arrived,” the former Fulham forward said. “We were close to signing with Milan, then Chelsea arrived and we went there.”
The Blues needed to sign a new striker, as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was no longer in the club’s plans.
Kai Havertz, who was Chelsea’s first-choice No.9 last season, was also sold to London rivals Arsenal.
Chelsea needed Nicolas Jackson more than AC Milan
While he is not getting any younger, Milan still have Olivier Giroud, who has started this season well after scoring four goals in his first four Serie A outings.
The Italian giants also have Rafael Leao and while the Portugal international is not a natural No.9, he can still play up front and is a dangerous forward overall.
Ultimately, Chelsea’s need for a striker like Jackson was probably more pressing than Milan’s, so Mauricio Pochettino will be delighted that his club managed to land him in the end, and the Argentine thinks he is doing a “fantastic job” at the minute.
The former Villarreal man has scored just one goal so far this season, but it is early days and he is still just 22 years of age. He has time to improve.
Hopefully it is something Jackson can do quickly, though, as Chelsea are already lagging behind in the race for top four. Going into today’s game against Bournemouth, Pochettino’s side find themselves eight points adrift of fourth-placed Brighton & Hove Albion following their impressive 3-1 win versus Manchester United yesterday.
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