Chelsea signed one player last season who has apparently trebled in value despite a relatively underwhelming first campaign in blue.
It was a turbulent season for Chelsea both on and off the pitch which ended in Mauricio Pochettino leaving the club, with Leicester City’s Enzo Maresca set to be named his successor in the dugout.
He will inherit what many perceive to be a bloated squad brimming with players who have not quite realised their potential, many of whom arrived for huge fees.
One player was particularly divisive. But a new analytics study has concluded that he is one of the most valuable assets in Chelsea‘s squad.
Nicolas Jackson valued at £84m, according to new data study
According to CIES Football Observatory, Nicolas Jackson is behind only Cole Palmer and Enzo Fernandez in terms of potential transfer valuation in Chelsea’s squad.
Based on a range of criteria including age, contract length, playing time, Chelsea’s economic power and many more market factors, it values Jackson at £84m.
For context, that is almost three times the fee Chelsea paid Villareal for the centre-forward’s services in June last year.
He is, according to the analysis, the 19th most valuable player in the Premier League.
Is Jackson really worth £84m?
In short, no. Probably not.
Jackson has talent and many think he will go on to greater heights next season, but he is undeniably raw and there are not many teams who would fork out such a huge sum for him.
The CIES analysis has likely thrown up Jackson as something of a statistical anomaly because of his eight-year contract length and Chelsea’s scattergun approach towards player trading.
Jackson scored 14 times in 35 Premier League appearances this term. But most Chelsea supporters would probably agree that the jury is still out on the 22-year-old Senegal international.
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