"He's nervous, he's scared" – Ian Wright feels Chelsea star is 'nowhere near the level' required at Stamford Bridge
Arsenal legend Ian Wright has asserted that Nicolas Jackson is not up to the mark to lead the line for Chelsea. He has also hit out at Mykhailo Mudryk for his sub-par start to life at Stamford Bridge.
Jackson, 22, left Villarreal to join Mauricio Pochettino's outfit in a £32 million switch ahead of the 2023-24 season. He has often shown signs of lack of composure and consistency despite netting seven times in 18 appearances across all competitions for his new team so far.
Mudryk, on the other hand, has failed to live up to the billing since joining the west London outfit from Shakhtar Donetsk in a potential £89 million deal in January. The 22-year-old has registered two goals and four assists in 32 overall matches for the Stamford Bridge club.
Speaking on the Wrighty's House podcast, Wright suggested that he has little to no confidence in both Jackson and Mudryk being clinical in front of goal. He said (h/t The Chelsea Chronicle):
"If Mudryk goes through, Jackson goes through, no matter how well they've got the ball through to them, I don't think they're going to score. I'm watching from the outside watching that."
Wright, who bagged 170 goals in 272 matches for Arsenal, continued:
"If you're a player and you're playing in that team and you're getting the pressure that Chelsea are getting on them, then you're creating chances, and we're talking good chances, and missing them, you're demoralised."
Sharing further thoughts on the Senegalese striker, Wright concluded:
"I feel sorry for Jackson. He is nowhere near the level to the point where you can see it, you can see it. He's nervous, he's scared, he's worried because he's not near it. Mudryk, he's still playing exactly how I saw a couple of videos of him, when he's doing his stuff, running 100 miles an hour, not slowing down."
Jason Cundy extends support to Chelsea's Reece James after right-back's latest injury
Speaking to talkSPORT, ex-Chelsea defender Jason Cundy weighed in on Reece James' recent injury setback suffered during the Blues' 2-0 league loss at Everton. He said (h/t The Boot Room):
"Can we have a word for Reece James? Honestly, that poor kid, again he walked off after 26 minutes. I had to retire early with injuries and I had injuries throughout my career. There's nothing worse than coming back and then trying to come back again. I feel for him."
James, who missed nine games for his team earlier this season due to an injury, is reportedly set to be out for three months with his latest problem. The 24-year-old is believed to begin his rehabilitation programme at Cobham soon to recover from his long-term hamstring injury.
So far this term, James has assisted once in nine outings for Chelsea.