When Mauricio Pochettino mentioned Nicolas Jackson in his press conference earlier today, we weren’t sure if he was joking – but it seems he was serious about the striker being available to face Liverpool tomorrow.
Jackson has been playing at the Africa Cup of Nations for Senegal, who were eliminated in the round of 16 last night. Now sources like Nathan Gissing are reporting that the striker will fly direct to Manchester from the Ivory Coast in order to be ready for the bench in Chelsea’s game tomorrow night.
🇸🇳🔵✈️ Understand Nicolas Jackson’s travel plan is to fly straight to Manchester from Ivory Coast (AFCON) – and then make a short trip to Liverpool to join up with Chelsea’s squad ahead of their clash against Liverpool tomorrow night. He’s expected to make the bench.
Pochettino… pic.twitter.com/EEzZlBFycp
— Nathan Gissing (@NathGissing) January 30, 2024
In many ways, Jackson participated the perfect amount in AFCON – he got sub appearances in every game to keep him match fit without tiring him out. Ok, he will have a long flight back to Europe, but that shouldn’t be enough to rule him out from a place on the bench at least.
With Christopher Nkunku also ready to be in the squad, Pochettino finally has some real options.
