John Obi Mikel believes Nicolas Jackson is now third selection striker at Chelsea – but believes he can still have a serious role to play on the club.
After two seasons as Chelsea’s only natural option up top, Jackson now has huge competition from summer signings Liam Delap and Joao Pedro.
Delap, a £30million arrival from Ipswich Town, has made a really positive impression on the Fifa Club World Cup, scoring his first goal for the club against ES Tunis.
The England Under-21 international was suspended for Tuesday’s semi-final clash with Fluminense with Pedro starting his first game for the Blues.
Having joined from Brighton for £60million last week, the Brazil international scored two sensational goals against the side he made his skilled debut for, sealing a 2-0 win for Enzo Maresca’s side.
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Jackson meanwhile began the sport on the bench and to make matters worse, missed an enormous likelihood after coming on within the second-half, berated by Cole Palmer for not passing to him as a substitute.
Former Chelsea midfielder Mikel has been calling for more competition up front for a while and believes his old side now have that with the choices of Jackson, Delap and Pedro.
While he believes the Senegal international is now more likely to start the brand new Premier League season as Enzo Maresca’s third selection striker, he believes he still has a future on the club.
‘It is vital we have now competition within the team, it is rather essential while you play for an enormous club and you might be competing for trophies and that’s what we have now got now,’ Mikel told DAZN.
‘Three good strikers competing for one position. With Delap and Joao, that competition goes to push the players to go extra hard.
‘But I still think Jackson has an enormous part to play, he just must sort out himself when it comes to discipline and what he desires to do here.
‘But I just think together with his performance here today, Joao and Delap are probably ahead of him without delay.’
Chelsea will now face Real Madrid or Paris Saint-Germain within the Club World Cup final on Sunday.
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