‘Incredible’ unwanted Nicolas Jackson record at Chelsea leaves Gus Poyet stunned as £32m striker surprises for all of the wrong reasons

Nicolas Jackson is surprising for all the wrong reasons at Chelsea, with Gus Poyet saying it is incredible that the striker has five yellow cards.

That is the unfortunate record that a £32 million ($39m) summer signing at Stamford Bridge has posted through the early weeks of the 2023-24 campaign. With just six Premier League games taken, Jackson is already having to serve a ban.

Given that the Senegal international operates in the final third of the field, he would not be expected to snap into tackles and attract unwanted attention from the match officials. Chelsea are, however, enduring a tough time as a collective, with former Blues star Poyet telling bitcoincasinos of a big-money frontman summing up those struggles: Jackson is a player that likes to run in behind, but at this current moment, Chelsea’s game is not finding him in the right areas. When a striker isn’t scoring for me, I like to think about playing in the right way for him to score. He needs to be supported and delivered passes in order to perform. Sometimes it’s down to the player – if we put in 50 crosses for him and he misses three 1v1s – but sometimes it’s down to the functionality of the team. I think with Jackson it’s a little bit of both, and he’s clearly frustrated because he’s already picked up five yellow cards in six games, which is incredible for a striker.

There have been suggestions that Chelsea may already be looking to sign another striker in January – with Jackson registering just one goal and Christopher Nkunku nursing an untimely injury – but Poyet is not convinced that more money should be spent in that area of the field just yet. He added: I think it’s easy to say Chelsea should buy a new striker because things are not working – both performances and results. But for me as a coach, I would make that kind of decision in November. If they really know now that they already need a striker in January, then they’ve got a big problem. It’s better to wait rather than addressing it now.

Chelsea have been linked with Brentford frontman Ivan Toney – but face competition for the England international’s signature – and will be hoping to have enjoyed a notable reversal in fortune by the time another transfer window opens for business in 2024.