Nicolas Jackson will miss the match against West Ham due to a possible transfer
Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca has confirmed that Nicolas Jackson will not be part of the team facing West Ham on Friday. This is because the player is exploring the possibility of a transfer to another club.
Sources close to the club have revealed to Alofoke Deportes that Aston Villa and Newcastle United are some of the teams interested in signing the 24-year-old striker. Chelsea would be willing to let him go this summer, after the arrival of João Pedro and Liam Delap, who joined the team for a combined sum of 90 million pounds.
Jackson’s value is around £60 million, and according to sources, Aston Villa is in the early stages of assessing the feasibility of a deal, considering Premier League financial regulations.
“He won’t be in the team because, as we said, we have two forwards, two players in that position, and we also know that something may happen before the end of the transfer market.”
Enzo Maresca
The coach, when asked if there was any close agreement, replied: “I have no idea, to be honest. You know I prefer to focus on training, preparing for the match and those things, I don’t know.”
Maresca also mentioned that Christopher Nkunku is in a similar situation, given the interest from Bayern Munich, but both players are training with the first team. On the other hand, Ben Chilwell and Raheem Sterling are working separately to revitalize their careers.
Chilwell was on loan at Crystal Palace during the second half of last season, while Sterling had a complicated temporary loan at Arsenal.
Maresca also downplayed any concerns about Wesley Fofana’s future at Stamford Bridge, after he removed all references to Chelsea from his Instagram account.
Fofana returned to the team against Palace last weekend, for the first time since he had surgery for a hamstring injury in April. Maresca commented: “I spoke with Wes every day. He is very, very happy, first of all, because he is back from the injury.”
“He is participating in all the sessions with us. He is very happy and, as I said after the match against Palace, he was on the bench just to be with us, but from tomorrow he is with us and may also have some minutes.
“He’s happy and we’re happy. As for Instagram, as you know, unfortunately I have no idea because I don’t use any social media.”
Fofana suffered criticism from some fans, recalling that he did something similar on his social media when he was trying to force his transfer from Leicester City to Chelsea in 2022.
“Wes is happy, we are happy and there’s nothing more to add about it,” said Maresca. “Now, I think if there are abuses on Instagram, it’s never good. It’s not good for Wes, it’s not good for any player and it’s not good for any human being in the world. But it’s something that, unfortunately, we can’t control.”
Romeo Lavia and Benoît Badiashile remain out with injuries.
