Aston Villa Nears Deal for Chelsea Striker Nicolas Jackson
Aston Villa are closing in on a deal for Chelsea striker Nicolas Jackson in a move that underlines just how hard Unai Emery is pushing this rebuild.
Villa are understood to have reached a broad agreement with Chelsea on a package worth up to £65m for the 25-year-old, matching the London club’s asking price. The structure is clear: £47.5m up front, with a further £17.5m tied to add-ons.
All that stands between Jackson and a reunion with Emery is the usual final hurdle – personal terms and paperwork. Talks are at an advanced stage, and there is confidence on all sides that the Senegal international will make the switch, linking back up with the manager who first trusted him at Villarreal.
If that happens, the domino effect will be immediate.
Watkins exit looming
Jackson’s arrival is expected to open the door for Ollie Watkins to leave for Al-Hilal, a move that would send one of Villa’s key figures to the Saudi Pro League and tear out another piece of the team that conquered Europe in May.
Watkins would be the fifth starter from that Europa League-winning XI to go. Morgan Rogers, Youri Tielemans, Lucas Digne and Ezri Konsa have already moved on, and goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez is also likely to depart, with Chelsea weighing up a move for the Argentine after deciding he is no longer central to their plans following Zion Suzuki’s arrival from Parma.
This is not a gentle evolution. It is a rapid, ruthless reshaping of a side that only months ago was lifting silverware.
Emery’s new-look Villa taking shape
Jackson would join an increasingly unfamiliar Villa squad. Record signing Johan Manzambi, midfielder Joao Gomes, goalkeeper Suzuki and defender Matteo Ruggeri have already come through the door as Emery and the hierarchy rip up and redraw the core of the team.
For Villa, Jackson offers a profile they know well. Chelsea paid £35m to bring him in from Villarreal in 2023, and he has delivered 30 goals in 81 games for the Blues. He added European pedigree with a Europa Conference League win at Stamford Bridge and featured most recently for Chelsea at the Club World Cup against Fluminense in 2025.
Last season, he went to Bayern Munich on loan and did what top forwards are judged on – he scored. Eleven goals in 34 appearances helped Bayern reclaim the Bundesliga title, and Chelsea collected a £14.3m loan fee in the process. An obligation to buy for £56.2m never kicked in, though, after Jackson fell short of the required 40 appearances of at least 45 minutes.
Now Villa are ready to take that bet instead.
Chelsea’s moving pieces
While Villa reshape their attack around Jackson, Chelsea are quietly retooling their own squad.
Liam Delap is also expected to leave Stamford Bridge, with a £50m fee agreed with Nottingham Forest for the striker as the club continue to cash in on forwards who sit behind the first-choice options.
At the other end of the pitch, Chelsea have been in talks with Atalanta over 18-year-old defender Honest Ahanor, valued at £34.3m by the Italian club. The interest in Ahanor, the pursuit of Martinez, and the willingness to let Jackson and Delap go all point in the same direction: a squad being aggressively trimmed and rebalanced.
For Villa, though, the picture is sharper. If they get Jackson over the line and wave goodbye to Watkins, Emery will head into the new season with a front line rebuilt in his own image. The question is simple and brutal: can this new version of Villa hit the same heights as the one that just conquered Europe?
