Kalidou Koulibaly has told Nicolas Jackson he has to believe he can become world class and claimed he could win the Ballon d’Or in the future.
Jackson arrived at Chelsea from Spanish side Villarreal in the summer of 2023 in a deal worth £32m, and impressed in his debut season.
The 23-year-old scored 17 goals in all competitions, with 14 of those coming in the Premier League and he was rewarded with a two year contract extension keeping him at the club until 2033.
Koulibaly urges Jackson to believe he can become world class
A lot was made of Chelsea not signing a striker over the summer despite pursuing Victor Osimhen for the majority of the window.
However Jackson’s improvement and start to the season have shown that may not have been the worst thing in the world for the club, and Enzo Maresca recently stated how happy he was with the striker.
The Senegal international has six goals and three assists in 11 games and early evidence has suggested his finishing has improved.
Former Premier League goalkeeper Shaka Hislop said Jackson would be top of the Premier League’s most improved player list if such a list existed.
Jackson has shown he’s got all the attributes to be a top striker and his all round play is a real strength, although there’s still a lot of improvement he can make.
Former Chelsea player and Senegal team-mate Koulibaly has urged Jackson to believe he can become world class.
“Nico Jackson has to believe he can be world class,” he said as cited on X.com.
“All the players who have won the Ballon d’Or believed they could. So you have to put this in Nico’s head.
“I don’t tell him to be selfish and ignore his teammates, but he has to think about the Ballon d’Or.
“If you put this image in his head, he can achieve it. And that’s what I tell him all the time.”
It’s hard to tell how good Jackson will become and what he will achieve, but Koulibaly is right in the sense that if you want to become the best you have to believe you can in the first place.
He’s certainly got all the attributes and it will be interesting to see how Jackson continues to develop under Maresca for the remainder of the season.
