Osimhen vs Nicolas Jackson: Comparing Stats of Chelsea’s Striker to Napoli Star

• Victor Osimhen is a Chelsea transfer target ahead of the summer window
• The Blues are in need of a striker to solve their problems in front of goal
• We analyse Osimhen's stats this season compared to Nicolas Jackson's

It is almost certain that Victor Osimhen will leave Napoli at the end of this season. He recently extended his contract with the reigning Italian champions but, later on, made comments to insinuate that he would be looking for a new challenge.

Osimhen has quickly risen to become one of the most promising forwards in football. The Nigerian forward almost single-handedly led the Partenopei to the Serie A title last season. He wasn't as lucky in the Africa Cup of Nations, where he was a beaten finalist with the Super Eagles.

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He hasn't shied away from publicly admitting that playing in the Premier League would be a dream come true for him. Chelsea and Arsenal are believed to be the front runners for his signature if he eventually decides to leave Napoli.

Arsenal have an eye on Brentford striker Ivan Toney, who could be a safer bet(no pun intended) between the two forwards, given his Premier League experience.

Reports have indicated that the Blues have grown increasingly confident of signing Osimhen, but as it stands, convincing the 24-year-old to move to West London without the allure of the Champions League could be a tall order.

But should the Todd Boehly-led club pull off the transfer, will Osimhen really be an improvement on the current option Chelsea has? That's the question we seek to answer.

For starters, Chelsea only has two forwards at the moment, Nicolas Jackson and Christopher Nkunku, after sending Armando Broja out on loan.

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Nkunku has only shown glimpses of his talent after returning from a long injury layoff, which leaves us with Jackson to do the comparison.

The Senegalese forward was thrown into the deep end to lead Chelsea's attack after Nkunku's injury in preseason. His high-profile misses have put him on the receiving end of criticisms, but what do the other numbers say?

Comparing Osimhen vs Jackson's statistics

Osimhen has played 13 games in the Serie A this season, nine less than the 22 Jackson has racked up in his debut season in England.

Both strikers have scored seven goals, putting Osimhen's goal ratio per 90 much higher due to fewer games played. Jackson has three assists compared to Osimhen's two.

Osimhen's armoury is diverse as he is equally adept in aerial duels. Of the seven goals he has scored, two were headers.

Despite his flaws in finishing, Jackson's overall gameplay has been solid for Mauricio Pochettino. Minutes after missing a 1v1 against Ederson when they played Manchester City on February 17, the 22-year-old threaded a beautiful ball for Raheem Sterling to score.

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He has created 20 chances this season, while Osimhen has only created nine chances. He also leads in passes attempted(391) compared to Osimhen's 124. The former Villareal man is also known for his lung-bursting runs, which has seen him complete 26 successful take-ons compared to Osimhen's six as captured by Squakwa's comparison matrix.

Osimhen's is far better disciplined than Jackson's, given that the latter has racked up nine bookings already this season. Most of his yellow cards have come from dissent, a factor Pocjettino has previously addressed.

"I told him for a striker to get four yellow cards only for protesting or talking to the referee, it's so easy, so cheap, getting yellow cards like that. Sometimes you need to get a yellow card for different actions, but not because of that," said the Argentine on Chelsea's website.

Will Osimhen improve Chelsea?

While statistics never necessarily tell the whole story, they try to give us an understanding of who a player is. Jackson has so far done everything correctly for Chelsea except to score. And for a player with less than two years of experience as a number nine, it is hard to blame him. It is actually prudent to play him from the wing to create chances for a proven number 9.

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For Osimhen, he has already proven his world-class status by guiding Napoli to the Scudetto title. Despite lacking goals, he also gave bone and marrow to the Super Eagles at AFCON 2023. He thrives under good service, and if Chelsea can get that to him, you can bank on the former Lille man putting them away.

So yes, Osimhen would be an upgrade to the current Chelsea set-up.

Osimhen makes UCL record

Sports Brief has also reported that Osimhen has joined an exclusive UCL list following his goal against Barcelona.

His goal, to cancel out Robert Lewandowski's opener, was his sixth at the Diego Armando Maradona stadium.

The goal now puts him third-most for players with the most home goals in the competition over the last two seasons behind Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe.