Aston Villa are reportedly in talks with Chelsea over a potential deal for forward Nicolas Jackson, who has emerged as Unai Emery’s top target.
Emery knows the 24-year-old well from their time working together at Villarreal, while the Senegalese international has bagged 30 goals and 12 assists in 81 appearances for Chelsea since joining our Premier League rivals in 2023.
READ MORE: Potential double fitness boost as Villa duo involved in training after absence
Although question marks have been raised over his temperament at times as well as a lack of a clinical edge in front of goal, Jackson has also managed to impress at Stamford Bridge, but according to Fabrizio Romano, talks are now taking place between Villa and Chelsea over the structure of a possible transfer deal, as Jackson is now considered to be Emery’s top target to strengthen our attack.
It’s added that we face competition from elsewhere, and so it remains to be seen if an agreement can be reached and other clubs are fended off in our pursuit of the frontman.
Loanees Marcus Rashford and Marco Asensio returned to their parent clubs at the start of the summer, while Villa have since sold Jacob Ramsey to Newcastle United and Leon Bailey has joined Roma in an initial loan deal with an option to make it permanent next summer.
In turn, that leaves us light in the attacking third, and although we’ve come under pressure to balance our books and reduce the wage bill this summer in order to comply with financial regulations, it seems the club is now in a position to bring in a key reinforcement to give Emery more competition and depth.
Given the fact that Emery played a vital role in Jackson’s development during his time at Villarreal, it’s hoped that not only will the Villa boss know how to help him improve his game further, but that Jackson will require less time to adapt and integrate into his former coach’s plans as we’ll need any new arrival to hit the ground running with the season already underway.
Villa have of course already signing Evann Guessand this summer while Emiliano Buendia has returned after his loan stint at Bayer Leverkusen, and so combined with the likes of Donyell Malen, Morgan Rogers and our versatile options who can play in advanced roles, we will hopefully have enough to compete on multiple fronts if Jackson is added to that attacking unit.
With the report above noting that he’s considered to be Emery’s priority target now, that is a positive sign that the Villa boss feels as though he will be an effective fit for his current side, and with his track record of improving individuals, it could prove to be a savvy piece of business to bring him in to add more firepower to our frontline.
Want more Villa analysis? TalkVilla+ has now launched! Subscribe below for ad-free newsletters, exclusive articles and much more. The TalkVilla podcast is also now live, have a listen, and subscribe if you enjoy on Apple Podcasts or YouTube. UTV!