Chelsea are coming off the again of one in every of their worst performances of the season, holding 57% possession in the match against Brighton, taking simply seven pictures, and creating zero massive possibilities within the recreation, happening to lose 2-1, being knocked out of the FA Cup.
Enzo Maresca was with out his solely pure senior centre-forward in opposition to the Seagulls, with Nicolas Jackson lacking by means of harm, which noticed Christopher Nkunku begin the sport up entrance.
Regardless of his immense kind in cup competitions this time period, it closely impacted the workforce’s general play each on and off the ball in a damaging style.
Nkunku did not handle a single on Saturday, only took one touch in the opposition penalty area and lacked urgent depth from the entrance, making it a lot simpler for Brighton to govern Chelsea’s press all through the sport.
This reveals the worth in having a high degree centre-forward, very like Newcastle at the moment do in Alexander Isak.
Alexander Isak’s unimaginable season in numbers
To this point this season, Isak has been in nearly unstoppable kind. Within the technique of making 28 appearances in all competitions, the Swede has scored 19 objectives and offered 5 assists.
The 25-year-old is efficient in all phases of play, urgent nicely from the entrance with depth, dropping to assist hyperlink play, but additionally being an excellent goal for direct balls ahead along with his 6 foot 4 body.
Newcastle’s talisman has been topic to plenty of curiosity from different Premier League golf equipment, with the likes of Arsenal and Chelsea reportedly very interested within the Sweden worldwide, having enquired about his providers prior to now.
However, in line with participant valuations from Soccer Observatory, Isak is valued at around €95.8m (£79.8m) by CIES Football Observatory and would price a fairly penny, probably much more than that sum, to convey him to Stamford Bridge in the summertime.
Remarkably, that price is definitely decrease than one in every of Chelsea’s present choices, who was signed for just £32m back in 2023.
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The Chelsea star who’s value greater than Isak
It is protected to say that Todd Boehly’s recruitment lately has been moderately hit and miss. For each Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez, there’s been a Raheem Sterling and Mykhailo Mudryk.
Alas, in a sure Nicolas Jackson, they’ve struck gold.
Jackson has made 68 appearances since joining the Blues, netting 26 objectives, offering 11 assists and totalling 5,312 minutes already. Regardless of being inconsistent, the 23-year-old has already proven his general high quality in all phases, urgent nicely from the entrance – which has been praised by Maresca himself – and contributing to the workforce’s build-up section, receiving in deeper pockets to assist hyperlink play and carry the workforce ahead.
“He’s serving to us quite a bit in the way in which we wish to play. He’s doing unbelievable. Everybody at first, nobody anticipated this from Nico. Targets, assists, the way in which we wish to press, he’s all the time aggressive, all the time there, he’s doing unbelievable.” – Maresca on Jackson.
Nicely, such has been his outstanding rise to stardom over the previous few years that in line with CIES, he’s at the moment valued even increased than Isak at a staggering £88m, making him the twenty second highest-value participant on the checklist.
For reference, one other striker who has been linked with a move to Chelsea is the extremely rated Liam Delap from Ipswich. He would not make this high 100 estimated switch values checklist by CIES however was being touted at around £50m over the winter.
|
Jackson vs Isak & Delap in 2024/25 |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Stats (per 90 min) |
Jackson |
Isak |
Delap |
|
Targets |
0.47 |
0.82 |
0.45 |
|
Assists |
0.26 |
0.21 |
0.10 |
|
xG |
0.59 |
0.70 |
0.37 |
|
xAG |
0.21 |
0.19 |
0.09 |
|
Progressive Carries |
2.12 |
2.90 |
2.09 |
|
Progressive Passes |
1.40 |
2.90 |
1.02 |
|
Photographs Whole |
3.26 |
3.45 |
2.01 |
|
Targets/Shot |
0.14 |
0.23 |
0.18 |
|
Key Passes |
1.30 |
1.75 |
0.97 |
|
Shot-Creating Actions |
3.21 |
3.65 |
2.40 |
|
Aerial Duels Gained |
0.67 |
0.90 |
1.79 |
|
Stats taken from FBref |
|||
When evaluating the three strikers’ underlying numbers, Isak does have a tendency to return out on high in lots of, exhibiting his medical ranges, and talent to contribute within the build-up along with his progressive actions and create for his teammates.
Nonetheless, Isak can be a lot nearer to his prime, with Jackson and Delap nonetheless having a couple of additional years of improvement earlier than they hit these ranges.
Peter Crouch and Joe Cole each praised Jackson as an “unbelievable” participant who deserves extra recognition from outdoors the Chelsea fan base, after scoring two in opposition to West Ham earlier within the season. While his kind has dropped off in entrance of objective since then, he has nonetheless managed to supply some essential assists, and Maresca clearly values his general work within the workforce extraordinarily extremely, which was but once more confirmed along with his absence in opposition to Brighton.
One other striker to compete with Jackson and add a unique talent set remains to be a lot wanted, however the Blues shall be hoping the 23-year-old is again for his or her subsequent recreation, as Chelsea clearly appear like a significantly better aspect when he’s on the pitch than when he is not.
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Chelsea have been poor within the FA Cup fourth spherical as they slumped to defeat in opposition to the Seagulls.
