Chelsea completed transfer for Nicolas Jackson replacement before deadline day U-turn

If Nicolas Jackson's Chelsea career told us anything, it is that he rarely takes the most straightforward route. On this occasion, it is hard to blame him for the uncertainty or chaos that has overshadowed the final few days of thesummer transfer window.

Up until 12:45pm on Saturday afternoon, all parties felt they were on course for a good deal.Bayern Munich had their cover for Harry Kane and potential long-term heir to his throne. Chelseahad an assured £12million loan fee, one of the biggest ever seen in the game's history, with the potential to make the deal permanent for an additional £56million next summer.

That alone would represent almost two times more than was paid to Villarreal in 2023 for Jackson. The possible overall package was significant but also lower than the market rate.

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Nick Woltemade, Hugo Ekitike, and Benjamin Sesko have all moved for more than Jackson was valued at there. For a player with 24 Premier League goals across two seasons as the only orthodox senior striker, plus numerous attributes contributing to the wider team growth and eventual success, Chelsea do risk being shortchanged.

Jackson is more than just a goalscorer (and his middling record tells you that) because he provides a willingness to press, relentless off-ball running into space to stretch defences, and neat link-up with his fellow attackers. With experience and demonstrable effective skill in England, he belongs among the most expensive centre-forwards available.

Chelsea have been open to selling him all summer and Bayern came calling late on. The agreement, reached on Friday night, suited everyone. That was, until Liam Delap went down.

Less than an hour after Enzo Maresca had revealed that the timeline for Delap's return was between six to eight weeks(around six to nine matches), Chelsea made it clear to Bayern that the Jackson deal was off. His response was understandably filled with anger.

Having been put in the shop window all summer, Chelsea turned back to Jackson in a time of need. A failure to account for the lack of depth up front with only Joao Pedro and Delap meant that Jackson was the most suitable alternative. The issue? He had just got off his flight in Germany, expecting to have a medical.

Jackson is not to blame for this situation but it feels entirely natural that such an unfortunate set of events would impact him. That has been the story of his two years in England.

Across 81 matches he will leave Chelsea averaging a goal, assist, yellow card, or sending off per 67 minutes. He is always involved and is exit is exactly the same.

Jackson was not keen to return to Chelsea after having the prospect of joining Bayern come so close. Talks were off on Sunday night but opened again, out of nowhere, on Monday. He could yet depart Stamford Bridge. This time it would likely have to be permanent.

This leaves Maresca with Joao Pedro as the only fit senior striker. He is also the main cover for Cole Palmer at No.10. Although his start has been mightily impressive, Joao Pedro has never scored more than five non-penalty Premier League goals in a season.

That does look set to change but Chelsea have left themselves exposed regardless.Facundo Buonanotte's loan should offer some support in attacking midfield but he is hardly the elite-level option that many imagined Chelsea buying after the pursuit of Xavi Simons.

Marc Guiu has also returned to Chelsea from his loan at Sunderland. He played three times in all competitions having only left last month for regular game time. Sunderland already had other options up front, owing to Guiu being on the bench in their opening league matches, and are set to add more.

Whether the Black Cats caught wind of Chelsea's intentions to cut Guiu's stay in the northeast and set about replacing him quickly, or whether it was the other way round and Chelsea acted to protect Guiu from a loan whereby he was third choice (at best), is not clear. However, what Chelsea do know is that next summer they have Emanuel Emegha to account for.

The 22-year-old is RC Strasbourg's captain having moved from the striker talent factory of Sturm Graz in 2023. He came through at Sparta in the Netherlands and was picked up by Royal Antwerp as a teenager.

His rise in European football has come with a strong goalscoring record. In 27 Austrian top flight games he scored nine times, assisting three. That was followed up by an impressive debut seasonat Strasbourg under the Clearlake Capital - Todd Boehly BlueCo multi-club umbrella.

There, he bagged eight times with two assists in 28 Ligue appearances an improved on that for Liam Rosenior last season with 14 goals in 27.That was enough for Chelsea to make their own move.

It is believed that he will come in after the season ends. In effect, he will be replacing Jackson as one of the striker options. Although Emegha is not the same sort of link-man as Jackson, his tall frame does warrant some comparison.

Stylistically, they are extremely different. Emegha is a penalty box striker with an eye for goal. His shots come from close range and there is little involvement in buildup.

Jackson is much more adept at combining play with the ball at his feet. What he lacks in box movement, he makes up for in touch and ball control.

With Joao Pedro and Delap ahead of Emegha in the pecking order, there is still a long time and a long way to go before finding out exactly how he fits into the Chelsea picture. After moving forward with letting Jackson leave for the second time in a matter of days, Chelsea do at least know they have someone in the pipeline.