Chelsea have moved fast to try to seal the transfer of Villarreal striker Nicolas Jackson, with the young forward keen to move to Stamford Bridge and things progressing well.
According to Fabrizio Romano, writing in his exclusive CaughtOffside column, the Blues look to have seen off competition from three other clubs for Jackson, with RB Leipzig also among the suitors who showed an interest in triggering his release clause at Villarreal.
Chelsea are now in pole position, however, with Jackson’s move looking like it could come soon as the final details of his transfer fee are now being discussed.
The west London giants moved quickly for the Senegal international, and fans will undoubtedly be pleased to see them pip a club like Leipzig to his signature, as the Bundesliga outfit have a very strong record in recent times of identifying and nurturing top young talent who later move on to bigger things.
“Chelsea are now discussing the final details of how to pay the Nicolas Jackson transfer fee, possibly getting it done in instalments rather than paying the full fee straight away. Chelsea are negotiating to do it in two or three instalments, but the player has been very keen – he wants to join Chelsea,” Romano said.
“The hope is that Chelsea can get this deal finalised before the end of June, but the timing is still not entirely clear on things like signing the contract and having a medical.
“Still, it looks imminent, as Chelsea have been fast to beat three other clubs to this deal – I can reveal that RB Leipzig are one of the other teams who were prepared to trigger Jackson’s release clause, but Chelsea were quicker and are in pole position.”
Chelsea were short of goals last season, so they’ll hope Jackson can come in and provide more of a threat up front and help the team climb the table under new manager Mauricio Pochettino.