Nicolas Jackson isn’t exactly lighting the world on fire at Bayern Munich thus far, but it was always going to be difficult for the Senegalese striker to shine in an attacking line that also includes Harry
Kane. The German Rekordmeister have already indicated that they more than likely will not activate the buy-on clause at the and of Jackson’s loan spell from Chelsea, but that’s not all down to the way he’s been performing.
So far, Jackson has tallied two goals and one assist from a total of ten appearances across all competitions. All of said goal contributions came in the Champions League against the likes of Pafos FC and Club Brugge, quite arguably two of Bayern’s easier opponents of the season thus far. Additionally, he has only started four matches across all competitions from the 359 minutes of total play he’s clocked. He’s certainly not Vincent Kompany’s first choice striker, but he does have positional versatility, and the Belgian manager has been liking what he’s seen thus far.
“He’s working very well. We talked about integration last week, and in my opinion, he’s adapted very quickly. I know why you’re asking this question, but I have no problem having a completely different opinion about his performances than what is sometimes said in the media. My feeling against Dortmund in the first half was that he played an outstanding role in enabling us to perform. The same was true at Pafos. He understood very quickly how to interpret our game – even against Club Brugge,” Kompany explained in the press conference previewing the Bundesliga clash against Bayer Leverkusen (FC Bayern).
Kompany is also more than well aware of what the outside perception is like for a striker when they are judged on their goal contributions, whether they are scoring goals or setting them up, or lack thereof. For him, he looks at much more than that in Jackson’s performances and has been seeing good things. “He’s a striker. When he scores, he’s the best. When he doesn’t, is that not enough? That’s not how I look at the game. We’re glad he’s here and he’ll become even more important this season. In terms of his play, he’s already where he needs to be. I’ve already seen good things and we’re staying calm and supportive. The rest will follow,” he stressed.
