Nicolas Jackson’s first red card for Chelsea had the potential to be much more impactful on his team and the overall season than the second one, just six weeks later. At the Club World Cup, his horror show 24th birthday might just have altered his future at Stamford Bridge once and for all.
Chelsea have already signed competition for Jackson up front in Liam Delap. The former Ipswich Town man was always going to have a shot in the starting XI on the opening weekend of the Premier League season in awkward as Jackson’s three-match ban from the end of last season carries over, but his run in the side is now going to be extended.
Delap made a positive first impression at Chelsea after his £30million move prior to the Club World Cup. His substitute appearance against Los Angeles FC (LAFC) ensured that Enzo Maresca remained with an energetic focal point in his team for 90 minutes rather than an hour.
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Jackson performed well in the group stage opener, getting an assist and showing why there is still hope that he can silence the doubters despite only scoring 10 league goals in 2024/25. The Senegalese forward had been quiet when it came to chances but effective in aiding his teammates, also setting up Noni Madueke.
As Jackson flagged in the second half, showing signs of a player who has been left as the only viable senior No.9 at Chelsea for two straight years with little backup or reprieve, Maresca was finally able to turn to a genuine alternative in Delap. The Englishman got his own assist and provided a bounding spark from the bench, setting up Enzo Fernandez with a cross.
Delap continued to make the channel runs that Jackson offers and also pressed defenders, sometimes too hurriedly. It was notable that Chelsea were able to sustain their intensity up front throughout, though, which is not something that has been possible using only Jackson or Christopher Nkunku to replace him.
Now the tide really might have changed. Delap was preferred against Flamengo, which did not necessarily signal a serious move away from Jackson as the first-choice striker for Maresca, more it was simply an opportunity. What happened in the game has the potential to be more seismic.
Delap came close for Chelsea early but faded in a much tougher game. He was peripheral as Chelsea ended up holding onto a lead rather than adding to it. So came the reverse substitution in the 64th minute, with Jackson playing the catalyst role.
He certainly impacted the game. Once again, not in a positive way. Less than four minutes later he was walking off, head bowed, after being sent off.
It’s the second time in four matches he has been shown a straight red card. The previous time, away at Newcastle United, it promised to derail Chelsea’s end of season, suffocating their hopes of Champions League qualification.
Without Jackson, Chelsea just about got through, losing to Newcastle with 10 men but then narrowly beating Manchester United and Nottingham Forest. He returned for the Conference League final, where he scored the winner but also missed a one-on-one.
Jackson remains a confusing player and an unpredictable one. The notion that he is not good enough for a team trying to compete at the top level only gains momentum with events like this.
For all of Jackson’s weaknesses, he still possesses plenty of desirable attributes in a forward. On Friday night he left his teammates hanging. The direction of the game was already going against them by this stage and Jackson’s red turned it too far to be saved.
In sweltering heat, he let them down. “He’s very sad,” Marc Cucurella said afterwards. “He tried to win the ball, had the bad luck that he kicked his leg and that’s it.
“He’s a young player with a lot of quality but maybe needs to improve a little bit in these things. He has to learn. After the manager spoke he said sorry, he didn’t do it on purpose. He’s a very important player for us, we will miss him in the next game but this is football.”
Maresca was similarly defensive. “The red card was nothing to do with Nico’s future,” he hit back. “He had the first one against Newcastle when Liam wasn’t here and another today. I said I am not sure it was 100% a red card. Nico knows that both situations were not good for the team.”
Jackson could not have picked a worse time. Not only is he competing with Delap – who, as mentioned, was already pencilled in to start the Premier League opener due to Jackson’s suspension having an extra game to run – but talk of a second striker coming in this summer continues.
Chelsea have been in talks with Eintracht Frankfurt over a move for Hugo Ekitike. The insistence that he is worth £84.5million and no less has halted things from going any further, but it is revealing that Chelsea are not yet completely done when it comes to their strikers.
Victor Osimhen and Viktor Gyokeres remain on the market. Both would come at around £60million but with much higher wages and a total package which could take them out of Chelsea’s price range. Given their age profile, there is serious doubt over whether Chelsea would realistically consider them.
Jackson’s latest self-inflicted problems will only heighten talk around finding a proper replacement for him. Regardless of Delap’s arrival, Jackson looked set to be the main striker heading into next season. He is the player with the 24 Premier League goals and 10 assists in two years – a decent enough return for someone still learning the ropes. Delap will be adapting to the demands of an elite club at senior level for the first real time.
Yet, Jackson has thrown his chance away. He will not only miss the final group game against ES Tunis – which Delap may well have been down to start anyway – but his Club World Cup could be over. A straight red card could see him be banned for more than one match, and it was a poor tackle.
If that happens then even if Chelsea progress from the group, as they are still expected to, Jackson might be out of the last-16. From there, it is not certain that Chelsea will go through any further. If they do, Delap will have had at least one other game to cement himself in Maresca’s thinking.
Ultimately, Maresca will be keen to find a balance for his two strikers, getting them both game time. But Jackson has done himself no favours.
The talk around him leaving or being replaced by another striker was already loud after the Newcastle red card and 2025 struggles. It will now get even noisier.
“Unbelievable,” said John Obi-Mikel to DAZN as a pundit after the match. “Stupid, stupid, stupid mistake. I don’t know what was going through his head. Your team needs you and he does that! He did that at Newcastle in an important game. He got a red card. And now he’s done this again. You can’t keep making mistakes like this.
“I don’t care what his frustration is. This is a massive football club and it’s about competition. If you’re angry or p****d off, then you have to embrace it. We need competition.”
Mikel has been a consistent backer of Osimhen, his fellow Nigerian, for several years now. After Jackson scored against Wolves last August, he called out Mikel’s antics and criticism.
On Instagram, Jackson wrote “shut your mouth” and “don’t talk s***”. Mikel now has the ammunition to go after Jackson again and promote the signing of Osimhen, or simply someone else deemed an improvement on Jackson.
From entering the new season as first choice, Jackson has put himself under more needless pressure. If Chelsea ever were going to try and upgrade on him then now would be the time.
“I want to say sorry,” Jackson posted online shortly after full-time. “To the club, the staff, my teammates, and all the fans watching, I let you down. Another red card… and honestly, I’m so angry at myself.
“I work hard every day to help the team, not to put us in this kind of situation. I still don’t fully understand how it happened. But one thing is clear: it wasn’t intentional. Just a football moment that went the wrong way. No excuses. I take full responsibility.
“I’ll reflect, I’ll grow, and I’ll come back stronger for the badge and for everyone who believes in me. Sorry. Sorry.”
It might not be enough to change the downward trajectory of his Chelsea career in the short-term. Jackson appears to know that and now has a bigger fight than ever on his hands to turn things around before it really is too late.
This game is relatively meaningless in comparison to the Newcastle one, but for Jackson the ripple effects could be much bigger. He was in the centre of the storm and has now managed to make the position worse.
Maresca has backed him publicly but others might not.
