Nicolas Jackson and Enzo Maresca of Chelsea (Photo by Bryn Lennon, Michael Regan/Getty Images)
Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca has confirmed that Nicolas Jackson is facing a lengthy spell out injured, with the Blues striker set to miss 6-8 weeks.
Jackson has had his critics during his time at Stamford Bridge, but he’s mostly been Maresca’s first choice to start up front this season, and he’s shown some signs of improvement.
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The Senegal international is still young and learning the game, but now that development has been dealt a setback as he won’t be back until after the next international break.
See below for Maresca’s quotes in his press conference today, as relayed by journalist Fabrizio Romano…
??? OFFICIAL: Nicolas Jackson will be out for 6/8 weeks with an injury, Chelsea confirm.
“He’s not gonna be available until the end of the international break”, says Enzo Maresca. pic.twitter.com/UK7cG494MJ
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) February 13, 2025
Maresca has some other options he can use up front for Chelsea, so this could perhaps be an opportunity for Christopher Nkunku to finally get a run of games and show what he can do after struggling for playing time for much of his career in west London.
Jackson will be missed, however, so Chelsea fans will no doubt be wishing him the best in his recovery, and hoping he can indeed come back as soon as possible and still make an impact towards the end of this season.
Another injury blow for Chelsea
It’s a big blow for CFC to lose Jackson, while they’ve also had numerous other problems with injuries in recent times.
Big names like Reece James and Wesley Fofana have been unable to contribute as much as they would have liked, and it’s surely hurt Maresca’s side’s hopes as the campaign has gone on.
Romeo Lavia has also had a lot of injury problems since joining Chelsea, though it’s not that clear if he’d be first choice anyway due to the presence of Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo in midfield.
It will be an interesting challenge for Maresca now as he looks to reshuffle his squad, with Nkunku surely the most likely option to replace Jackson up front, even if he’s not necessarily an out-and-out number 9.
