Chelsea inform Bayern Munich they will not proceed with Nicolas Jackson loan after Liam Delap injury
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6585836/2025/08/30/nicolas-jackson-bayern-loan-Chelsea-delap-injury/
By David Ornstein
Chelsea have informed Bayern Munich they will not be proceeding with the loan move for Nicolas Jackson and have asked him to return to London after Liam Delap’s injury.
Delap sustained a hamstring injury during Saturday’s victory over Fulham and head coach Enzo Maresca said at full time he expected the striker to be sidelined for up to eight weeks.
The Athletic reported on Saturday Bayern had reached an agreement with Chelsea to sign Jackson, with the proposed deal for a season-long loan with an option to buy worth a total package of €80million (£69m; $93.5m).
Jackson, 24, had been given permission to travel to Germany today (Saturday) ahead of undergoing a medical with the Bundesliga champions.
Delap, who signed for Chelsea from Ipswich Town for £30million ($40m) this summer, was withdrawn on 14 minutes after pulling up at Stamford Bridge and immediately gesturing to his hamstring. He was replaced by Tyrique George.
Delap’s injury and Jackson’s proposed departure would have left summer signing Joao Pedro as Chelsea’s only recognised senior striker.
“When you have two strikers it is enough, when one of them is injured for weeks it is not enough,” Maresca said at full time on Saturday. “Today we played for more than one hour with Tyrique and he did brilliant.
“The last time he played as a No 9 was against Manchester United last year. We tried to use different solutions. If you remember there were some games where we used Pedro (Neto) as a No 9. But for sure when you have two proper No 9’s it is enough.”
Jackson’s Chelsea future had been the subject of uncertainty throughout the summer after he dropped behind summer arrivals Delap and Joao Pedro in the pecking order at Stamford Bridge.
He was left out of Maresca’s squad for the pre-season friendlies against Bayer Leverkusen and Milan as Chelsea and the striker explored a possible transfer in the final weeks of the summer window.
Are Chelsea making the right decision?
Analysis from The Athletic’s Chelsea Writer Simon Johnson
There is never a dull moment at Chelsea but this is the right call. They had to act fast following Delap’s injury and they have made a good decision.
With the schedule getting so much tougher when the Champions League gets under way from mid-September, Chelsea could not afford to be down to one recognised striker in Joao Pedro.
Maresca revealed shortly after the win over Fulham that he expects Delap to be ruled out for up to eight weeks, that is a significant period of time which could have effected their ability to challenge at home and abroad.
The task of reintegrating Jackson into the camp might not be so easy. The forward was happy to be leaving England for a fresh challenge at Bayern Munich.
Chelsea made their intentions clear by dropping him down the pecking order when they signed Delap and Joao Pedro in June.
The Senegal international wanted to leave, especially with the ambitions of playing at the World Cup next year and worried about a lack of game time.
Jackson has been expecting to depart in recent weeks. Crucially Chelsea kept him training with the first team rather than making him train away from the main group with players who are surplus to requirements like Raheem Sterling and Ben Chilwell. That means he is not coming in from the cold at least and still has a good understanding with his teammates.
And ultimately Chelsea are recalling a player that knows Maresca’s methods and has scored 24 Premier League goals in two seasons.
