‘Enzo Maresca furious with Nicolas Jackson as Chelsea admit transfer mistakes’
Enzo Maresca was left raging on the touchline as Nicolas Jackson was sent off in Chelsea’s 2-0 defeat at Newcastle.
The forward was dismissed for a flailing elbow on defender Sven Botman, in what looked to be a deliberate act.
Jackson’s actions left Chelsea fans exasperated, and the 23-year-old’s disciplinary record doesn’t make for pretty reading.
The Senegal international has been booked 18 times across the last two seasons, and has now added a red card to his rap sheet at a crucial time, with his involvement in the race for Champions League football now over.
There has been a disappointing drop-off in terms of form as well for the forward, who has scored ten domestic goals this campaign, but only found the net once in the league since December.
Maresca ignored Jackson after red
According to The Athletic, the Chelsea boss was muttering under his breath as soon as Jackson made the reckless challenge at St James’ Park, even before the VAR review that saw John Brooks produce red, and completely ignored the striker as he walked back to the dressing room after being sent off.
In the post-match press conference, The Athletic’s (12 May) Simon Johnson reported that Maresca said: “I did not speak (to him). It is not the moment. Probably in the next day or so, I am going to speak with Nico.”
Maresca added: “You need to avoid these kinds of things, because you need all of your squad available for the next game. It happened, now he will be out for the rest of the season and hopefully he can learn for the future.”
The Senegalese forward had his contract extended until 2033 last September, demonstrating the faith in him at Stamford Bridge.
But he has not repaid that faith so far, and now Chelsea are looking for a new long-term striking option, although the club are not thought to have given up on Jackson.
Benjamin Sesko, Liam Delap and Hugo Ekitike are just some of the names the Blues are considering, but the fact they are in the market for a centre-forward is, according to Johnson in The Athletic, an “admission that they’ve got it wrong” at the position, with Christopher Nkunku failing to succeed.
Chelsea forced to buy another striker
Football Insider Verdict
At the start of this season Chelsea’s stance was clear, they had faith in the three centre forward options they had at the club and didn’t see any reason why they should splash the cash on a brand new attacker.
However, the current crop of Jackson, Nkunku and Marc Guiu have failed to fill the role, each for different reasons.
| Name | Games | Goals | Assists | Yellow Cards | Red Cards |
| Jackson | 30 | 10 | 5 | 7 | 1 |
| Nkunku | 27 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Guiu | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Football Insider exclusively revealed that Nkunku is close to a Chelsea exit, and the 27-year-old has flopped at Stamford Bridge, scoring only three times in the Premier League this season.
With Guiu injured and Jackson out of form, the Blues have been left short up front, and cursing their decision not to sign a striker last summer.
Maresca now has little choice but to utilise the summer transfer window to try and bring in a proven goalscorer, something which Chelsea have consistently failed to do for a number of years now.