Arsenal legend, Paul Merson, has said that Chelsea made a mistake by letting their striker, Nicolas Jackson leave the club.
Merson, a Chelsea fan, said the Blues should not have allowed the Senegalese leave, especial when it was clear Liam Delap would be sidelined to injury for so long.
Bayern Munich paid an initial loan deal which includes a mandatory obligation to buy if the former Villarreal man plays a certain number of games for the Bundesliga side.
He said the deal that took the Senegal international out of Stamford Bridge is a ‘bad loan’.
“I think Nicolas Jackson was a bad sale, I really do,’ the Arsenal hero added. “I thought Jackson made Palmer and Palmer made Jackson,” Merson told The Good, The Bad & The Football podcast.
“As a midfield player, you love to pass the ball, so you love pace up front, it’s a dream. Jackson would always go and it would open the game up and give Palmer more space.
“Now he’s gone and Joan Pedro plays but he’s more like a 10 who comes short. All of a sudden your flair players like Palmer and Enzo [Fernandez] don’t get as much time on the ball and start picking the ball up further back and you can’t hurt teams from there.
“For me that’s a problem. Jackson is not the best finisher but he will have his days. I thought that was a bad loan.”
Chelsea lost to Jackson’s Bayern in their Champions League opener before suffering back-to-back Premier League defeats
Chelsea returned to winning ways against Jose Mourinho’s Benfica before scoring an injury-time goal to beat Liverpool at Stamford Bridge.
EPL: ‘Bad loan’ – Paul Merson criticises Chelsea over Nicolas Jackson