Why Aston Villa or Tottenham Should Take a Chance on Nicolas Jackson
The criticism of Nicolas Jackson as an unreliable finisher is unfair. According to Brentford owner Matthew Benham, getting in position is way more informative than finishing.
The Stats Don't Lie
Since the start of the decade, factoring in everyone who has played at least 5,000 Premier League minutes, and excluding penalties, there is only Erling Haaland with a higher expected-goals figure per 90 minutes than Jackson. He is a chance magnet.
The Bayern Munich Effect
Jackson's goal return was impressive enough for Bayern. He scored 11 goals in all competitions but was starved of minutes, starting only 15 matches. In terms of goals from open play in the Bundesliga, only Harry Kane had a better record per 90 minutes.
The Unai Emery Connection
For Aston Villa, who have just received a British record transfer fee of £117m from Chelsea for Morgan Rogers, the circumstances are different. And Unai Emery has good reason to believe that he could coax more than anyone else from this particular player.
Jackson was working with Emery at Villarreal that opened up these career opportunities for Jackson. And there is no need to take anyone else's word for that. Speaking to Sky Sports about this, Jackson was emphatic. "Unai taught me everything about football." He added: "When I was from Senegal, I knew how to play but I did not understand how to run on the pitch. I was just running like crazy, taking the ball and just dribbling, making my own stuff. He changed all that and made me into a different kind of player."
