Story by
'He's a big miss' - Ex-scout can't believe Chelsea sold their Joao Pedro 'replacement'
- Story by
- 'He's a big miss' - Ex-scout can't believe Chelsea sold their Joao Pedro 'replacement'
Nicolas Jackson would have been a natural replacement for injured Chelsea striker Joao Pedro had he not been sold to Aston Villa.
That is the opinion of former senior Villa scout, Bryan King, speaking exclusively to Football Insider.
Advertisement
The Blues will be without the Brazilian for a few weeks, with Xabi Alonso confirming that he suffered a thigh injury in the build-up to Saturday's defeat to Tottenham.
Chelsea lost the game 2-0 and looked a shadow of the team that beat Everton, with Morgan Rogers failing to make an impression on the game when deployed through the middle.
Pedro has scored five goals and provided three assists in just seven games so far this season, but it is his presence in attack that Alonso's team appeared to really miss.
Chelsea bought Danny Welbeck from Brighton in the summer after selling Jackson, but the striker had to wait until the the 88th minute to get onto the pitch against Tottenham.
'Why the hell did they sell Nicolas Jackson?'
Advertisement
Jackson looked set to leave Chelsea in the summer of 2025, after falling out with Enzo Maresca.
The Senegal international was loaned to Bayern Munich and many thought the arrival of Alonso would earn him a clean slate.
Yet the Spaniard was happy to see him leave, and Villa agreed a deal worth up £65million. Jackson has scored seven goals in his first 11 appearances for Unai Emery's team, and looks to be a superb purchase.
"He's a big miss, the boy up front for Chelsea [Pedro]. You think, 'why the hell have they got rid of Jackson? You can't play Rogers up front," King told Football Insider.
Advertisement
"Rogers is a player who's coming on to stuff. He's not somebody who's going to lead the line.
"So, it makes a strange decision to let a centre-forward go when apparently now we see that they've only got one centre-forward."
He added: "Okay, you bring in the centre-forward you brought in, but why sell the boy Jackson? He was your replacement for Pedro.
"Was it the fact that they only play with one up [front]? I'm surprised they couldn't play with the two of them, with Pedro and Jackson.
"Rogers isn't a centre-forward. He's not a player who wants to play with his back to goal. He's a player who likes to come on to stuff."
Advertisement
Chelsea have 'interest' in Jarrad Branthwaite as updated Everton 'plan' revealed What games will Pedro miss?
Along with Cole Palmer, Pedro will miss Chelsea's trip to Anfield to take on Liverpool in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday.
He will also miss the crunch visit of Manchester United on Saturday, in which the pressure will be on the Blues to bounce back.
Chelsea will have to negotiate a potentially tricky trip to Sunderland before the international break, which should see Pedro's return.
Alonso will hope to have him back, fit and firing, for the visit of Leeds United in November.
