Toluwani Lasisi
Chelsea have agreed an improved package for striker Nicolas Jackson to join Bayern Munich.
After an on-off transfer saga, the 24-year-old is set to complete an initial loan move for £14.3m (16.5m euros), which crucially includes a mandatory obligation to buy for £56.2m (65m euros) through a minimum number of appearances.
It’s a deal on slightly improved terms as the one initially agreed and now worth in excess of £70m.
Personal terms are already in place for a future five-year permanent contract for Jackson, whose deal with Bayern was in doubt after Chelsea instructed him to return when Liam Delap was injured in Saturday’s Premier League win over Fulham.
The Senegal forward joined Chelsea at £32m from Villarreal in 2023 and scored 30 goals in 81 matches.
To boost their own attacking options, Chelsea have signed Argentine Facundo Buonanotte, 20, on a season-long loan deal from Brighton for a £2m fee.
Jackson had been an automatic starter until his red card at St James’s Park in April – his second dismissal of the season – which left the club without a striker as they were competing for a place in the Champions League.
Jackson was then sent off within four minutes of coming on as a second-half substitute in the 3-1 group-stage defeat by Flamengo at the Club World Cup, Fifa’s expanded competition which Chelsea ultimately won. Strikers Liam Delap and Joao Pedro arrived to replace him during the tournament.
Multiple sources said Jackson ultimately lost the trust of manager Enzo Maresca and some of the hierarchy at Stamford Bridge, prompting Jackson to seek a move.
It was a shift in mood as Maresca said earlier in April that the frontman was his “perfect number nine” and wanted “a copy of Nico” rather than to replace him.
Jackson could face Chelsea on September 17 (20:00 BST) in Munich as Uefa rules allow loanees to face their parent clubs in the Champions League.
