This guest post was written by Zach Lowy, Chief Editor and Social Media Manager of BreakingTheLines.com. Zach is a successful journalist and can be followed at @ZachLowy on X and @zachlowy.bsky.social
on Bluesky. Zach’s work can also be found on FotMob, BetUS and others.
It has been a whirlwind summer for Nicolas Jackson.
The Senegalese striker had spent the entire season as Chelsea’s undisputed starting No. 9, winning the UEFA Conference League and FIFA Club World Cup, but his lack of discipline and frustrating end product caused him to drop down the pecking order following the summer arrivals of Joao Pedro and Liam Delap. Jackson looked set to depart for Bayern Munich in the final days of the summer window, only for the Blues to reportedly cancel his loan move at the 11th hour after Delap suffered a hamstring problem.
It seemed that Jackson would be denied a move to the German giants, having traveled with his agent to Bavaria to complete medicals, only to hear the news that he needed to return. Nevertheless, he didn’t quit and continued to push for a move to Bayern; eventually, Chelsea decided to recall Marc Guiu from his loan at Sunderland instead, allowing Jackson to join Bayern on loan for €15 million with an option to buy for €65 million. After competing in both of Senegal’s FIFA World Cup qualifiers, scoring in the latter vs. DR Congo, Jackson then headed to Munich, where he made his debut on September 13 in a 5-0 win. He replaced Serge Gnabry at halftime when Bayern were already winning 4-0 and gave it a fairly conservative display, completing 17 out of 18 passes (1 key pass), registering 1 interception, and firing a shot on target.
Jackson then followed in the footsteps of Thibaut Courtois and Fernando Morientes by competing against his parent club in the UEFA Champions League, playing the final minutes of their 3-1 win against Chelsea. And on Saturday, he made his first-ever start in German football, starting up top alongside Harry Kane and lasting an hour. However, he struggled to make an impact, registering just 15 touches, completing 5 out of 7 passes and winning just 2 out of 6 ground duels, while he also lost possession 7 times.
It’s still early days, but there are certainly a few pros and cons behind Jackson’s arrival. In terms of pros, Bayern were fairly desperate. They had lost Leroy Sane, Kingsley Coman and Thomas Muller in the summer and only brought in Luis Diaz; having failed in their attempts to sign Nick Woltemade and a host of other players, Bayern were running short of options. In Jackson, they’ve signed a player who’s already impressed in LaLiga, the Premier League, and UEFA competitions, and who has arrived on a fairly low-risk deal.
Now the negatives. Jackson has struggled for consistency across his time in London, and at 24, it appears that he still has a few screws loose. Whether it’s scuffing his shorts from close range or getting needless bookings (he was sent off twice in his last five Chelsea matches), it’s evident that Jackson still needs a lot of growing up to do. Moreover, he will also depart Bayern midway through the season for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, which will take place between December 21 and January 18, where Senegal will be one of the main favorites as usual. He’ll be going up against battle-hardened defenders like Nayef Aguerd, Lalas Abubakar, William Troost-Ekong and Chancel Mbemba, and there’s a good chance that he might just pick up an injury in Morocco, forcing Bayern to invest in the January transfer window.
However, as the saying goes, beggars can’t be choosers. And for the task of adding extra bodies to a wafer-thin attack, Jackson will work out fairly nicely. Away from the constant spotlight of Chelsea, he might just be able to grow his game and learn from arguably the best center forward in the game in Harry Kane. It might not be enough for Bayern to sign him permanently, but it certainly could prove beneficial from both parties’ perspectives.
From Eric Dier to Ivan Perišić, from James Rodríguez to Philippe Coutinho, Bayern have enjoyed quite a few loan signings who, despite not sticking around for long, certainly made a positive impact in the short-term. Could Nicolas Jackson be the next one?
This guest post was written by Zach Lowy, Chief Editor and Social Media Manager of BreakingTheLines.com. Zach is a successful journalist and can be followed at @ZachLowy on X and @zachlowy.bsky.social on Bluesky. Zach’s work can also be found on FotMob, BetUS and others.
