Chelsea do not intend to proceed with Nicolas Jackson’s loan to Bayern Munich after Liam Delap sustained a hamstring injury during their 2-0 win over Fulham on Saturday.
Jackson flew to Munich after the clubs reached an agreement on the deal, which included an option to buy for €65m, but the striker has been asked to return to London after Delap limped off against Fulham with an injury that could keep him out for eight weeks.
The request disappointed the Senegal striker, who joined Chelsea from Villarreal in 2023, and left him reluctant to come back to England. Chelsea’s position is that no contract has been signed and that they must protect the interests of the club. They have informed Bayern that the deal would not go ahead.
Enzo Maresca, Chelsea’s head coach, said after the game that it would not be possible to operate with only one fit striker for two months. Chelsea intend to reintegrate Jackson, who has fallen out of favour after the arrivals of Delap and João Pedro this summer. Maresca was forced to use the 19-year-old winger Tyrique George as a striker against Fulham.
“When you have two strikers, it’s enough,” Maresca said. “When one of them is injured for different weeks, probably it’s not enough. Today we played more than one hour with Tyrique and he did brilliant. The last game he played as a No 9 was Man United at home last year. Again, we try to use a different solution. If you remember last year, we used Pedro [Neto] in some games as a No 9. It’s because we are always looking for a solution.”
Jackson has scored 24 goals in 65 Premier League appearances. He opened his Chelsea account against Luton before scoring a hat-trick in a 4-1 win at Tottenham in his first season with the club. He scored 14 goals in 35 league matches and formed a good relationship with Cole Palmer.
Last September Jackson signed a two-year contract extension, with his deal running until 2033. He made key contributions during Chelsea’s Conference League success, scoring twice in the semi-final first leg win at Djurgården and once in the final against Real Betis.
Discipline was a problem for the Senegal international, however: he was sent off for a deliberate elbow in a Premier League match against Newcastle in May and also in the Club World Cup group-stage defeat by Flamengo a month later for a reckless foul after coming on as a substitute.
Jackson returned from suspension to replace Pedro in the semi-final win against Fluminense but was an unused substitute in Chelsea’s 3-0 final triumph over Paris Saint-Germain.
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Jackson was suspended for Chelsea’s opening game of the 2025-26 season against Crystal Palace and was left out of the squad for the 5-1 win at West Ham despite being fit and available for selection.
Meanwhile, Chelsea are understood to have offered Barcelona €40m (£34.5m) for the midielder Fermin López.
