There were a couple of reasons why Chelsea wanted to sell Nicolas Jackson to Bayern Munich on deadline day.
The Blues spent the summer offloading players for big fees to satisfy an agreement that they have with UEFA after their heavy spending in recent transfer windows.
The likes of Christopher Nkunku, Noni Madueke and Joao Felix were all sold to help Chelsea with the above.
After signing Joao Pedro and Liam Delap, the plan had been to sell Jackson, but not just because of the club’s agreement with UEFA. However, Chelsea could only find a loan for Jackson, though it could become a permanent deal if certain conditions are met.
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Chelsea wanted Bayern Munich to help fund Conrad Harder move by purchasing Nicolas Jackson
With Delap injured and Jackson having his heart set on a move to the Allianz Arena, Chelsea considered bringing in a new centre-forward and had identified Conrad Harder, who was at Sporting Lisbon at the time, as a target.
As a result, according to BBC Sport, the Club World Cup winners asked Bayern to make a permanent offer for Jackson to help them fund a move for Harder.
That never happened, though, and Chelsea would instead go on to recall Marc Guiu from the Stadium of Light.
Guiu was meant to spend the season at Sunderland on loan, but Delap’s injury and Chelsea’s failure to land Harder have resulted in an early return to Stamford Bridge.
As for Harder, he left Sporting for RB Leipzig. On the 20-year-old, Leipzig’s managing director of sport Marcel Schafer told Leipzig’s official club website: “He’s tall, physically and mentally strong, aggressive, with a lot of pace and a very dangerous left foot. He’s also got international experience.”
Was Conrad Harder interested in a switch to Chelsea?
Chelsea had a lot going against them in their pursuit of Harder, who did not look keen on a move to Stamford Bridge.
It was claimed that Harder actually said no to Chelsea when they came knocking about a potential switch to west London.
The Leipzig path will probably be better for his development anyway. He would not have started over a fit Pedro.
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