The summer signing from Ipswich has seized his opportunity in the U.S. with his rival striker suspended for another brainless red card
As Chelsea's Club World Cup quarter-final against Portuguese giants Benfica looms, head coach Enzo Maresca has already had one selection dilemma decided for him. New £30 million ($41m) signing Liam Delap will almost certainly lead the line in North Carolina, after Nicolas Jackson effectively handed him the starting berth.
The Senegal international collected a needless red card just four minutes after coming off the substitutes' bench against Flamengo, costing his side as they went on to suffer a damning 3-1 defeat. In his absence, Delap would go on to coolly open his Blues account in their very next game.
This latest indiscretion has raised serious questions over Jackson's future at the club, and the new arrival's fast start to life at Chelsea is only intensifying that scrutiny. Could this be the final straw?
Getty Images SportRecurring problem
Jackson's discipline – or lack thereof – has been a recurrent issue since the striker arrived from Villarreal two years ago. While it seemed for a time like he had learned his lesson, he has taken two significant steps backwards of late.
It took the Senegalese just six games of the 2023-24 Premier League season to accumulate five yellow cards and a subsequent ban, as he struggled to keep a lid on his temper, regularly picking up needless cautions for dissent and cynical fouls.
Jackson collected just five more yellows in the remainder of the campaign, and was able to maintain that somewhat improved temperament in 2024-25, with his seven domestic yellows a bit more spaced out (although 18 in just two seasons still isn't great).
AdvertisementGettySeeing red
However, the fiery centre-forward finished the season in the worst possible way, earning a straight red card in the first half of the crucial clash at Newcastle in the run-in after leading with his elbow in a challenge with Sven Botman.
Chelsea battled admirably without him but fell to a 2-0 defeat that put their Champions League hopes in serious jeopardy, while Jackson was suspended for the remainder of the league season to dent their chances even further.
Though the Blues ultimately got the job done without him, any hope that the striker would redeem himself at the Club World Cup was swiftly extinguished as he crashed into an ugly, studs-up challenge just four minutes after emerging from the bench against Flamengo in the west Londoners' second group game, and the referee brandished the red. Chelsea would go on to lose 3-1.
AFP'A bad moment'
To make matters worse, Jackson's ban was upgraded from one game to two – meaning he could well miss the remainder of Chelsea's tournament unless they reach the semi-finals.
"It happened against Newcastle and today…It's a little bit of a bad moment for Nico," his manager Enzo Maresca said in the aftermath. "The red card has nothing to do with Nico's future… Nico knows in both games it was not good for the team.
"Nico apologised. At Newcastle, we were just 1-0 down and it was in the first half. Today, we were 2-1 down but with half-an-hour left. There was time to play, but with one man down it became all the more difficult."
Getty/GOAL'Stupid, stupid, stupid'
Jackson felt compelled to apologise publicly and at length after his latest misstep, writing on Instagram that he was 'so angry at himself'. He wrote: "No excuses. I take full responsibility. I'll reflect, I'll grow, and I'll come back stronger for the badge and for everyone who believes in me. Sorry."
However, one of the striker's most vocal critics, Chelsea legend John Obi Mikel, was having absolutely none of it. "[It's an] unbelievable, stupid, stupid, stupid mistake, I don't know what is going through his head," he said. "You come into the game at 2-1 down and your team needs you and he does that.
"You can't keep making mistakes. I don't care what his frustration is, it is massive club, Chelsea Football Club. If you are annoyed that Delap is going to be the competition with you, if you are a big player you have to embrace it. We can become successful together as a team.
"Maresca must ask do I still trust this guy or do I stick with the player I brought into the football club, Delap? If he doesn't trust him then it is time for Delap to start the game."
