In the summer, Xabi Alonso and Chelsea had a decision to make. Either reintegrate Nicolas Jackson or place their faith in Emmanuel Emegha. Despite his injuries, they chose the latter.

Since then, Jackson has been immense for Aston Villa since reuniting with Unai Emery after a £65m fee changed hands. The Senegal star has already scored seven goals in 11 appearances for Emery’s outfit.

Over at Stamford Bridge, Emegha has failed to make his Chelsea debut. Largely seen as the club’s third-choice striker, a hamstring injury before the tour of Australia and Asia has hampered his progress since.

Chelsea think Emegha can be a better striker than Jackson

In 81 appearances for Chelsea, Jackson had a hand in 42 goals – scoring 30 times. But by the time the Club World Cup came around, he was surplus to requirements. Joao Pedro and Liam Delap had joined.

Chelsea were right to choose Pedro over Jackson, but they were wrong to place so much faith in Delap – after Delap scored just one Premier League goal for Chelsea during 2025-26. He’s since joined Forest.

Early signs suggest the latter. Emegha, by no fault of his own, is already under enormous pressure to prove himself to the Chelsea faithful, having moved to the club in the summer, but is yet to win a debut.

Alonso has confirmed Emegha will be in Chelsea’s squad to face Liverpool on Wednesday night, but is he the man that Chelsea can rely on? And can Emegha prove he is a better striker than Jackson ever was?

Comparing Emegha’s 24-25 season to Jackson’s last at Chelsea

Given Emegha’s injury-ravaged 2025-26 season, and that he’s yet to make a debut this season, below we compare his 2024-25 season under Liam Rosenior to Jackson’s final year at Chelsea, also in 2024-25.

Ultimately, Jackson played at a higher level in the Premier League. But it is interesting to see how Emegha beats Jackson in numerous metrics, largely in the air and XG – with the hope he transfers it to England.

While Emegha will do well to mirror those stats in the tougher Premier League, especially after his injuries, it is quite clear that in front of goal, Emegha was the better player during the 2024-25 campaign.

However, Jackson gets more involved in play, laying on more assists, creating more chances and dribbling past players more often. Emegha is more of a poacher, using his 6ft 4in frame to his advantage.

Worryingly, Jackson was presented with big 26 chances in the Premier League that season, missing seven. A total of 21 big chances were created for Emegha, and he missed 10 – Jackson narrowly edging him out.

Jackson, meanwhile, offers more to the overall system. Paul Merson reckons Cole Palmer missed Jackson last season and perhaps, the stats show why. Emegha has a lot to prove but clearly, he is capable.

However, Alonso has faith, saying: “When he’s fit, he’s very special because he’s 1.95 metres tall; he’s quick, he attacks the space, he’s a threat.” Can he be better than Jackson? Yes. Will he be? Time will tell.