Nicolas Jackson has told Chelsea that he wants to leave amid interest from Newcastle, with the Senegal forward having missed the friendly with Bayer Leverkusen on Friday night. Jackson has fallen down the pecking order at Stamford Bridge after the arrivals of Liam Delap and João Pedro, with Eddie Howe’s side believed to be frontrunners to sign the 24-year-old. He is understood to have trained alone on Friday after informing Chelsea that he would like a move away from west London, with Milan having also been linked with the 24-year-old.
Chelsea had valued him at £80m but are likely to accept a reduced fee of around £65m as they attempt to reshape their attacking options by signing Xavi Simons from RB Leipzig and Manchester United’s Alejandro Garnacho.
Newcastle are thought to be favourites to sign the player who joined from Villarreal in 2023 for £32m and also want to bring in Brentford’s Yoane Wissa after missing out on Benjamin Sesko, who is set to join Manchester United. Wissa was left out of Brentford’s squad for their friendly against Borussia Mönchengladbach on Friday having informed them that he wants to leave, although Newcastle have yet to agree a fee for the DR Congo forward.
Howe is keen to reinforce his front line after Callum Wilson left on a free while Alexander Isak is likely to move to Liverpool if Newcastle can agree a fee with the champions.
On Thursday, Enzo Maresca said that Jackson, who signed a nine-year contract in September 2024, could leave Chelsea this month. “When the transfer window is open, unfortunately or fortunately, anything can happen,” he said. “This also involves Nico’s situation. At the moment we also had two strikers arrive, João and Liam. So we will see what happens.”
Chelsea have opened talks with United over Garnacho having already agreed personal terms with the 21-year-old but it is understood that they are reluctant to pay his £50m valuation.
Chelsea are also hopeful of concluding negotiations with Leipzig over Simons, the Netherlands forward who is understood to have agreed personal terms despite interest from Bayern Munich.
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Estêvão, the 18-year-old who stayed at Palmeiras for a season after Chelsea agreed a £52m deal with the Brazilian club last year, scored on his debut at Stamford Bridge against Leverkusen in a 2-0 victory for Maresca’s side.
