Chelsea relief after stopping Nicolas Jackson from entering dreaded final seven years of contract

Chelsea will hand a trademark whopping-length new contract to young buck Nicolas Jackson just to really make sure there was no risk of him looking to run down the mere seven years he had left on his existing deal.

The Athletic’s David Ornstein writes that terms have been agreed on a contract extension that would tie Jackson to the club until 2033, which is officially quite a long time in the future.

One would have thought that one of the benefits of securing players to ludicrously long contracts would be that the renewal cycle would come around much less often, yet there Chelsea are, signing Jackson up to a new deal just over a year after he arrived at Stamford Bridge.

They have done the same for Cole Palmer, who signed a two-year extension on his contract last month, meaning his deal will also last until we are all jetting around in our flying cars in the year 2033.

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The purpose, presumably, is to give those players pay rises that reflect their increased importance to the side since joining. Both Cole and Jackson played a key part in Chelsea’s better moments last season, sharing 43 goals in all competitions, and look set to be important players in Enzo Maresca’s side after starting the new season with two goals and four assists between them.

Jackson may also have leaned on Chelsea’s failed pursuit of Napoli centre-forward Victor Osimhen, which has only increased the Senegal international’s stock at the club.

Journalist Fabrizio Romano writes that Chelsea were thwarted by Osimhen’s massive wage demands in the face of a rival bid from Saudi Pro League side Al-Ahli.

Romano said: “Then, Napoli started changing some of the details of the deal, and Al Ahli decided to call Ivan Toney instead, telling him he could come for a medical. At that point, the Osimhen deal was on total stand-by, meaning that for Osimhen it was pretty much Chelsea or nothing.

“A Chelsea delegation had been in Italy trying to reach an agreement with Osimhen – they spent a long time working to reach an agreement with the player.

“There were several add-ons and bonuses to make their proposal higher, whilst keeping in line with Financial Fair Play, but their proposal still wasn’t close to the €11-12m net salary of Osimhen at Napoli.

“I think in the end Chelsea made five or six proposals, and one final one at 10pm, but again it was not even close, and so the deal collapsed.”