Gary Lineker has backed Chelsea striker Nicolas Jackson to become ‘top-class’ despite admitting he has a glaring weakness.
Jackson enjoyed a promising first-half to the 2024-25 campaign, scoring nine goals to help Chelsea emerge as surprise title contenders in the Premier League.
Chelsea spent £32m to sign Jackson from Villarreal in the summer of 2023 but he endured a mixed first season at Stamford Bridge, contributing 17 goals in all competitions but also attracting criticism for some wayward finishing.
Jackson, 23, appeared to take his game to another level at the start of this season but went four games without a goal over Christmas as Chelsea suffered a major wobble.
The Blues were named as Liverpool’s biggest rival for the title less than a month ago but failed to beat relegation-battlers Everton before losing to west London rivals Fulham and newly-promoted Ipswich Town.
Chelsea’s poor run of form continued on Saturday as Enzo Maresca’s side were held to a 1-1 draw by another team sitting in the bottom-half of the table, Crystal Palace.
While Jackson has only scored once since the start of December, ex-England striker Lineker believes he can develop into a ‘top-class’ player at Stamford Bridge – despite the fact he is ‘not a natural finisher’.
‘There’s a lot of good in his game,’ Lineker said while discussing Jackson on The Rest is Football podcast.
‘His movement is really good. It’s not easy if you’re not a natural finisher and I don’t think he is one.
‘But if he can improve that side of his game and work at it in training, he could be top class.
‘He’s still very young so that improvement can come. His movement is really good and he’s got a great relationship with Cole Palmer.’
Ex-Manchester City defender Micah Richards, meanwhile, says Jackson ‘needs to be more clinical’ after going through a leaner period in front of goal.
‘We mentioned ruthlessness earlier in the show and I think Nicolas Jackson is a good player, I really rate him,’ he added.
‘But he needs to be more clinical, he needs to finish off games and put games to bed. That’s the difference.
‘There’s going to be times when you concede but Chelsea had too many opportunities to put that game away and they just didn’t. It’s cost them over the last four games.’
Despite Chelsea’s poor run of form, they remain fourth in the Premier League, a much higher position than many predicted before the season began.
Discussing his team’s wobble, Maresca said: ‘When you don’t win three or four games, it is normal that the rest will come closer to you.
‘In the last four games, we have drawn two and lost two – so the gap [between the top four] is closer, but there are still 18 games to go.’
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