After passing the club’s medical examination on Sunday, Nicolas Jackson will sign an eight-year contract to transfer from Villarreal to Chelsea for €37 million (£31.8 million).
Nicolas Jackson was close to joining Bournemouth in January but was unable to pass a medical because of a hamstring issue. Jackson scored 12 goals in 26 La Liga appearances last season.
After the 22-year-old Senegal striker finished the season with eight goals in as many games, Aston Villa and Everton showed interest in signing him. However, Chelsea ultimately prevailed in the race to sign him. They have paid more than Jackson’s release clause in order to get more beneficial payment terms within the structure of the deal.
Jackson moved to Villarreal from Senegal in 2019. A year later, he went on loan to Mirandés to play in the second tier. He impressed for the club’s B team and made his La Liga debut in October 2021.
He will become the second striker to move to Chelsea in a short space of time after the arrival of Christopher Nkunku from RB Leipzig for £51m on Tuesday. The new manager, Mauricio Pochettino, made it a priority to bolster his frontline options after Chelsea averaged a goal a game last season in finishing a disappointing 12th and subsequently missing out on European football.
The length of Jackson’s contract is typical of those handed to players under the ownership of Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital as part of the policy of using amortisation to spend large sums on transfer fees while not breaching financial fair play regulations.