Three suitors, no bids
Chelsea lowered their asking price for Nicolas Jackson and it changed nothing. Aston Villa, Tottenham and Atletico Madrid have all looked at the Senegal striker this summer, RMC Sport reported. All three walked away from the €70 million valuation.
That number is already a concession. BBC Sport reported in July that Chelsea wanted €76m, roughly £65m, to let Jackson go. Cutting €6m off the price brought interest without producing an offer.
Two weeks remain before the window shuts on 1 September. Chelsea need a buyer inside that stretch or they keep a striker who has spent the summer being publicly shopped.
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The spending problem behind it
Chelsea have outspent every club in world football this summer. Twelve signings arrived at Stamford Bridge for a combined €408 million. Morgan Rogers cost more than €135m on his own. Jordan Henderson and Danny Welbeck came in on cheaper terms to add experience to a squad that had almost none.
That volume of arrivals creates its own pressure. Xabi Alonso cannot field everyone, and the accounting side of the club needs sales to balance a window of that size. Jackson was always going to be one of the names moving the other way.
The market disagrees on what he is worth. Villa, Tottenham and Atletico all identified him as a target and all three drew the same line on price, which suggests the valuation rather than the player is the obstacle.
Where it leaves him
Jackson signed for Chelsea from Villarreal in 2023 and has been the club’s most-used centre forward across the past three seasons without ever settling the debate about whether he is the long-term answer. He has scored, he has missed, and the club have signed attackers around him every window since.
Atletico Madrid remain the most interesting of the three. They have spent the summer chasing a forward and have been unable to move Julian Alvarez, whose €500m release clause has blocked every approach from Barcelona. If Atletico decide they need a striker rather than the striker, Jackson becomes the cheaper route.
Chelsea have not indicated they will drop the price again.
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