Bought from Villarreal by Chelsea despite never really being a natural number nine, that’s where Nicolas Jackson has played the most since his arrival.
He has been criticised for his ability to find the back of the net despite doing so seven times this season, and he will now have to do it for Senegal at the Africa Cup of Nations.
Part of Aliou Cissé’s squad, the 22-year-old has ‘everything to prove’ for his country over the coming weeks, according to L’Equipe, where he will hope to fire them to glory before heading back to Chelsea.
The newspaper highlight the Chelsea player as one of those who needs to show up, since he has yet to score in his seven caps to date.
While he has suffered some criticism, they point out that the ‘faith’ shown in him by Mauricio Pochettino is ‘not trivial’, with the Argentine manager clearly able to see something there.
That has yet to fully translate onto the pitch, but there have been promising signs, such as his speed and way of ‘opening up defences with his off the ball runs’ that are often useful for the team.
The tournament in Ivory Coast could be his ‘starting point’ to launch his Senegal career, which Chelsea will also be hoping for, since that would mean him returning to Stamford Bridge full of confidence.
