Pundit Paul Merson claimed the decision would be “another blow to Chelsea” as one of the Blues’ star players has “not been up to his full potential” this season.
Chelsea have suffered from inconsistency this season, with a clear win against Liverpool but heavy defeats against Manchester United, Brighton and Sunderland.
On Wednesday night, the Blues bounced back from their defeat to Sunderland to beat Wolves 4-3 with 10 men to advance to the Carabao Cup.
Head coach Enzo Maresca utilized a deep squad against Wolves, with summer signing Jamie Gittens on the scoresheet alongside Andrej Santos, Tyrik George and Estebao.
Chelsea have plenty of options in the wide areas, but have been short on strikers in recent weeks as Liam Delap’s injury forced Maresca to use Joao Pedro and Marc Giu as a number nine.
Chelsea may therefore be regretting their decision to let Nicolas Jackson leave in the summer and let him join Bayern Munich on loan with an option to buy.
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Speaking earlier this month, former Premier League striker Teddy Sheringham explained why he thought this was a “very strange decision”.
“I think Chelsea made a very strange decision to loan Nicholas Jackson to Bayern Munich,” Sheringham said.
“Top clubs need a centre-forward who is the heart of the team, someone who can lead the line and understand what the job is expected of him.
“Jackson has been at the club for two years, has gained experience and improved his scoring record.
“I was very surprised to see him leave and see him being dumped like Enzo Maresca.
“He is a player who knows Maresca’s system very well and could have helped Joao Pedro integrate into the team. We now have Pedro and Delap, both of whom are still learning the new system and one is injured.
“The timing of Delap’s injury was unfortunate, but I think it showed that Chelsea instantly regretted their decision to let Jackson go, because they tried to bring him back and he said no, which I thought was fair enough.”
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Now manager Merson claims Giu is “not good enough” and letting Jackson leave “comes back to bite Chelsea”.
“Up front, I think the decision to let Nicholas Jackson leave comes back to hurt Chelsea a little bit,” Merson told Sky Sports.
“Marc Giu wasn’t up to the task against Sunderland.
“It’s not enough to touch the ball nine or 10 times when you’re playing in a strong team. Joao Pedro has also endured an injury so he hasn’t trained much.
“This leaves Chelsea with only a few left and I think it shows that this team is not as great as everyone thinks.”
