Nicolas Jackson transfer eyed by Aston Villa’s Unai Emery

Aston Villa manager Unai Emery is reportedly a long-time admirer of Chelsea striker Nicolas Jackson, whom he worked with when they were both at La Liga giants Villarreal.

Sky Sports journalist Dharmesh Sheth has spoken about Jackson’s future, naming Villa as one of the Senegal international’s admirers.

Posting on X, formerly Twitter, the Sky reporter also confirmed that Manchester United are also among potential suitors for Jackson, as had previously been reported by the Times.

See below for Sheth’s post about Jackson, who could cost as much as £100m if a rather surprising recent report from the Daily Mail is to be believed…

Number of clubs keeping eye on Nicolas Jackson’s situation at Chelsea. Told Manchester United among them. Focus currently on Bryan Mbeumo & sales. Villa boss Unai Emery long-term admirer. Gave him debut at Villarreal. AC Milan keen but gap in valuation. #CFC #MUFC #AVFC #ACMilan

— Dharmesh Sheth (@skysports_sheth) July 15, 2025

Sheth posted: “Number of clubs keeping eye on Nicolas Jackson’s situation at Chelsea. Told Manchester United among them. Focus currently on Bryan Mbeumo & sales. Villa boss Unai Emery long-term admirer. Gave him debut at Villarreal. AC Milan keen but gap in valuation.”

Nicolas Jackson could be a smart signing for Aston Villa…but not for £100m!

Jackson hasn’t exactly set the world alight at Chelsea, but he’s shown glimpses of some decent potential.

It’s certainly easy to imagine that the 24-year-old could shine elsewhere in the Premier League, even if he’s not quite at the level that most Chelsea fans would expect from their main centre-forward.

Villa already have Ollie Watkins up front, but could do with more depth in that department after selling Jhon Duran back in January.

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Jackson seems like a sensible choice for AVFC to consider, but of course there’s surely no way they should pay anywhere close to £100m for him as the Mail have reported might be necessary.

It’s hard to imagine Chelsea will get crazy money for Jackson after his rather indifferent form, so it will be interesting to see if they stick firmly to that price of end up negotiating something different.