Chelsea star has forced Enzo Maresca to scrap January transfer plan, says Gary Neville | OneFootball

The club were expected to return to a former target in January

Gary Neville believes Chelsea will change their transfer plans for January after seeing Nicolas Jackson's form.

The striker has eight goals and three assists in 13 games this season, firmly establishing himself as the main striker in Enzo Maresca's first-choice starting line-up despite the competition of Christopher Nkunku and summer signing Joao Felix.

Chelsea were long linked with a summer move for Victor Osimhen, and failed with a late bid to sign the striker on loan with an obligation to make the move permanent. Napoli rejected that offer, only to see other options fall through before the striker joined Galatasaray on a straight loan move.

The Blues were expected to return in the January window for another offer but now Neville believes the form of Jackson will have changed Maresca and the owners' minds.

Nicolas Jackson has now scored eight goals in 13 games

Chelsea FC via Getty Images

"Nicolas Jackson, I’m happy for him," Neville said on his Sky Sports podcast. "I never thought he was the problem. I thought they might need to sign another forward but I thought he would be a really good second striker.

"If you had a No9 like Diego Costa and Jackson was your man to come on, you’d think what a good striker he is to come on. "He’s now pushing to the point where you think, 'do we actually need that first striker? Could he be that first striker?'

"I had a lot of love for him last year even though he was erratic and made mistakes. We’re now seeing a real handful up there and someone you wouldn’t want to play against as a centre-half."

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