Chelsea considering bid for ‘next Mbappé’

Chelsea supporters could see a familiar face return as part of Xabi Alonso’s side at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League next season.

Nicholas Jackson still has seven years left on his contract and will reportedly be given a chance to impress the Spanish head coach in pre-season.

He spent the 2025/26 season on loan at Bayern Munich in Germany, but the Bavarian giants opposed signing the Senegalese international permanently.

The 24-year-old striker has scored 11 goals in 34 appearances for Bayern this season, including eight goals in 23 appearances for Vincent Kompany in the Bundesliga.

However, his form in front of goal was not enough to convince the Bundesliga champions to pursue a second contract with Chelsea, which failed this summer.

Chelsea considering summer signing of Premier League striker

Jackson scored 30 goals in 81 games in all competitions during his first two seasons at Stamford Bridge, including a hat-trick against Tottenham Hotspur in his first year in London.

Despite a pretty decent return in front of goal, Alonso is already eyeing a new striker who will arrive as an even better option than the former Villarreal player.

According to TEAMtalk, Chelsea are one of the teams considering signing Eli Junior Crupi from Bournemouth in the upcoming summer transfer window.

According to reports, the Blues and Liverpool have been keeping an eye on the young attacker for a long time and are currently considering a summer signing with a view to signing him during the off-season.

However, Manchester City added that they are already in talks with the player’s agent, suggesting they are currently ahead of their rivals in the race to sign Crupi.

TEAMtalk have revealed that the Cherries will not accept less than £80 million for the 19-year-old talent, and it remains to be seen whether Chelsea are willing to pay that price for his services.

Why Eli Junior Crupi is a better fit for Chelsea than Nicholas Jackson

Last summer, the London Giants decided to let Jackson go on loan after being too unreliable in front of goal during his first two seasons in the Premier League.

In the 2023/24 and 2024/25 seasons combined, the Senegalese international scored 24 goals in the Premier League for Chelsea from 30.98 x G, which shows he was an incredible waste of the opportunities that came his way.

Meanwhile, Crupi’s form with Bournemouth in the Premier League this season suggests he is far more clinical for Alonso than for Jackson.

In the 2025/26 season, no player had a better xG than the Cherries’ marksman. He found the back of the net 13 times in the division from 8.98 xG.

The teenage sensation, described by Goal magazine as ‘the next Mbappé’, showed himself to be both clinical and consistent, scoring 13 goals in just 21 appearances.

These statistics suggest that he will be much more effective in front of Chelsea’s goal than Jackson will be in his third season at the club, given that he consistently struggled as a finisher during his first two years in London.

The Senegalese forward failed to prove in either season that he is a reliable player who takes the quality chances that come his way, which is why he was loaned out, and why the club should aim to sign a more reliable striker this summer.

Crupi could be that player, as his current form isn’t flashy despite being only 19 years old. He also played 30 games in Ligue 2 for Lorient in the 2024/25 season, scoring 22 goals and missing just 12 “big chances”.

This means that while the French prodigy has scored 35 goals at league level over the past two seasons and only missed 15 ‘big chances’, Jackson has missed 61 ‘big chances’ in the past three seasons combined.

Alonso will be aiming for long-term success at Stamford Bridge and signing a clinical 19-year-old attacker with a proven Premier League background could be a great way to start his reign.

It will now be up to the club’s leaders to push ahead with a deal for the forward so they can beat Liverpool and City to sign him before the end of the summer period.