Nicolas Jackson: Has Newcastle red card confirmed the end of his Chelsea career?

Nicolas Jackson has endured an immensely underwhelming start to 2025 and his actions against Newcastle United could cost Chelsea the chance to play Champions League football next season.

The Senegal international has only scored three goals in 14 appearances since the start of the calendar year, including a brace versus Djurgarden, and there are growing rumours that Chelsea will sign a replacement during the upcoming summer transfer window.

After a frustrating first-half, in which he completed just three passes, Jackson flung his elbow into Sven Botman’s neck in the 35th minute and following a VAR review, he was sent off by referee John Brooks after initially receiving a yellow card.

It was a mindless loss of control and it could spell the end of Jackson’s time as Chelsea’s first choice striker.

Is Nicolas Jackson’s time at Chelsea over?

Somewhat surprisingly, Chelsea actually improved after going down to 10 men and they were certainly the more dominant force in the second-half, with Bruno Guimaraes’ deflected strike in stoppage time coming against the run of play.

However, the lack of a centre forward on the pitch was a glaring problem for Enzo Maresca’s side and Jackson is to blame for that fact.

Furthermore, the Senegal striker will now miss Chelsea’s final two games of the season through suspension. With Christopher Nkunku and Marc Guiu both injured, Maresca will be forced to deploy Pedro Neto or potentially Tyrique George through the middle.

Thanks to the loss at St James’ Park, Chelsea will most likely need to beat both Manchester United and Nottingham Forest in their final two league fixtures in order to secure Champions League qualification – a task made infinitely more difficult without a natural number nine.

Jackson enjoyed a fantastic start to the season and he looked as though he’d made the step up to a reliable goalscorer at the highest level. That fact no longer appears to be true and he also seemingly can’t be relied upon from a discipline perspective either.

Chelsea’s pursuit of a new centre forward has been widely documented and Jackson’s recent form and his red card versus Newcastle suggests that Maresca must sign a replacement for his current first choice centre forward.

The Blues boss has repeatedly praised Jackson throughout this season, but he cost his side at St James’ Park and his actions may well have confirmed the end of his time as Chelsea’s number one striker.

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