Osimhen bid, Gyokeres decision – Chelsea next transfer decided after Nicolas Jackson twist

Enzo Maresca shot down the suggestion that Nicolas Jackson’s baffling red card against Flamengo would impact his position at the club this summer. Regardless of the manager’s view, for the second time in less than two months, the striker has eroded away confidence from the fanbase.

Jackson has never been an entirely popular figure at Stamford Bridge, representing a developing, growing, and learning centre forward in a position which has been bossed by the finished product of Diego Costa and, eventually, Didier Drogba’s inevitable game-breaking form. With Liam Delap on board, Jackson’s spot is under threat.

After a positive first match at the Club World Cup, he was sent off less than four minutes after replacing Delap on Friday, marring his 24th birthday. Jackson will now miss at least the final group game and might be left unavailable for the rest of the competition, depending on how FIFA see the incident and how far Chelsea go.

That hands Delap an opportunity to stake his claim as the main No.9 where Jackson had been expected to remain, despite the transfer of a new £30million option for Maresca. It comes amid the talk of Chelsea still looking to buy a second striker this summer.

Hugo Ekitike is a player of interest, just not at the £84.5million valuation Eintracht Frankfurt hold. Victor Osimhen and Viktor Gyokeres are names that simply will not go away.

Maresca has insisted that this red card does not impact his future but that position is not shared by the fans. Even those who have defended and supported Jackson are running out of excuses during a torrid 2025 to date.

With this in mind, football.london writers have taken a look at what could follow in the summer window after Jackson’s latest moment to forget.

Tom Coley

Jackson hasn’t helped himself here. Now, more than ever, he needed to make the No.9 position his because there is going to be genuine pressure from Delap (whether he is good enough to lead the line regularly right now is another question) and increasing clamour for a match-winning striker from the market.

The issue, with the forwards they are actually looking at (Ekitike, mainly), is that there would still need to be an adaptation period. Osimhen, on the other hand, is plug-and-play. He comes in, gets the ball in and around the box, shoots, and creates chances for himself.

He is lethal, cold-blooded, and a proper finisher out of nothing. Ekitike has a lot of Jackson-like attributes. There are similarities with Alexander Isak in his languid style and dribbling tendencies.

That is an appealing option but Chelsea will not pay the money for him. Unless a part-swap deal can be agreed or some sort of massively incentivised transfer is there, it won’t happen.

Osimhen, at £60million but huge wages and bonus demands, is the Chelsea-coded player of old. It doesn’t seem likely that he comes in, though. That might hand Jackson another life, and he needs to make the most of it.

Amie Wilson

Nicolas Jackson’s red card against Flamengo may be a warning sign to Chelsea, while he proven that he can score goals in the Premier League, the Blues can’t rely on a player who is going to regularly miss games through suspension. He is currently serving a ban for his red card against Newcastle, and will miss the opening game of the season against Crystal Palace.

It could lead to Enzo Maresca turning to Liam Delap as first choice. But with speculation over the futures of both Christopher Nkunku and Marc Guiu, it does seem like one more striking option is needed in case of suspensions and injury.

Spending big on a player who is expecting to start every game is probably not the way to go. It might instead be worth going for a younger player who is happy biding his time on the bench and continuing to learn his trade – whether that is someone internal from the academy or a new player is something Chelsea could look at.

Matty Hewitt

Jackson’s red card in the Club World Cup just about summed it up didn’t it? It was a silly, late challenge but also striked me as a player keen to prove a point. Having replaced Liam Delap just four minutes earlier, he would have been keen to impress and there’s very little riding on Club World Cup success other than the obvious financial boost a win would bring.

It’s not exactly a trophy that supporters are clamouring for, however they are keen for more Premier League and Champions League titles. The club need a proven goalscorer if they want to close the gap to Liverpool at the summit.

Both Jackson and Delap still need to develop before they’re at world class level and the Blues should still be looking to bring in a striker this summer. That call has very little to do with Jackson’s disciplinary issues, who will serve a ban upon returning to top flight action next summer.

Hannah Pinnock

Patience is understandably wearing thin among the Chelsea fanbase as the wait for a clinical, reliable goalscorer continues. Enzo Maresca certainly has options in his forward line, but none that truly strike any palpable fear into opponents.

The signing of Liam Delap was very much in the mould of a young talent with room to develop, but there’s no denying the 22-year-old is still far from the finished article. At 24, Nicolas Jackson should be closer to reaching his peak, but the red card against Flamengo – his second sending-off in recent months across all competitions – suggests there’s still work to be done on the mental side of his game.

It doesn’t help that question marks remain over the futures of Christopher Nkunku and Marc Guiu. On paper, Chelsea seem to have remarkable depth up front, but the reality could not be more different.

Links with strikers continue to dominate the headlines, but if Chelsea are to dip into the market, it’s crucial they target a different profile than they’ve typically gone for. They need someone ready to hit the ground running, who has consistently proven themselves at the top level and doesn’t require a lengthy adaptation period or time to grow.

Whether it’s Victor Osimhen, Viktor Gyokeres or another big-name forward, Chelsea must move away from any more long-term projects, even if it means signing someone older than they typically have in the Todd Boehly era so far.

Joe Doyle

After another silly red card for Jackson, it would be tempting to go out and spend big money on another striker. They may need to do it regardless, given their current squad options.

But I don’t think it should necessarily be a cut and dried decision to spend £60million or so on Victor Osimhen (or similar on another target) solely because of a couple of red cards for Jackson.

He’s been leading the Chelsea line on his own, essentially, for the last two years. It’s a responsibility that should not have been placed on his shoulders, and if it had been properly addressed by the club’s sporting directors in the last two years it would have helped all involved.

Jackson and Delap competing for the No.9 role should be enough to keep the Blues challenging for a top four position and do some damage in the Champions League. I don’t think the squad as a whole is quite strong enough to be a title challenger currently, but a striker who adds 30 goals a year would certainly bring them much closer to that target.

If they want to compete for the league title this year, they will need an experienced striker, though. I’d pick Osimhen.