Tottenham legend Teddy Sheringham feels Chelsea “immediately regretted” a summer transfer decision which he has labelled “very strange.”
Chelsea were very active in the summer window. They signed 10 players – nine permanently – while they sold 14, let seven go on loan, and two left on free transfers.
Of the loan exits, the most intriguing was Nicolas Jackson. He was lined up to go to Bayern Munich before Liam Delap was injured, meaning Jackson was called back, having already been in Munich to seal the deal.
He and his agent did not want to return, though, and eventually the striker did make his move to the German giants, as Chelsea recalled Marc Guiu from loan as striker cover.
So far at Bayern, Jackson has played six games, scoring one goal and assisting another – both in the same Champions League game.
Tottenham legend Sheringham feels it was a strange call for Jackson to be allowed to leave.
He said: “I thought Chelsea made a very strange decision in letting Nicolas Jackson go out on loan to Bayern Munich.
“A top club needs the focal point of the team, the centre forward, to be someone who can lead the line and understand what the job required of him is.
“Jackson had been at the club for two years; he’s got experience and his goalscoring record had been improving.
“I was very surprised to see him leave and to see him discarded in the manner that he was by Enzo Maresca.
“He was a player who knew Maresca’s system well and could’ve helped Joao Pedro to gel into the team. Now they have Pedro and Delap, both of whom are still learning a new system and one injured.
“The timing of Delap’s injury was unfortunate, but I think it showed that Chelsea immediately regretted their decision to let Jackson go because they tried to call him back and he said no, which I thought was fair enough.”
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Chelsea have not had one single player outperform the others in front of goal this term. In the Premier League, midfielders Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez top the list with three each, and Pedro has two.
But the Blues have scored 13 goals in the league and only Arsenal and Manchester City have outscored them.
As such, they currently don’t need a star striker banging in goals, though it might push them ahead of some similar sides if they did.
Jackson was never the greatest goalscorer, though, with a highest tally of 14 in the league, while he scored 10 in 30 last season.
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