It is fair to say that Nicolas Jackson and his former club Chelsea had very contrasting weekends!

Jackson scored a brace as Aston Villa went on to beat Manchester City 2-1. As for Chelsea, the less said, the better…

Joao Pedro did not play over the weekend because of injury and, as a result of that and Jackson’s brace, some are now wondering whether Chelsea made a mistake by selling their former striker to Villa. The answer is no, and there are at least three reasons why.

Joao Pedro is still a better striker than Nicolas Jackson

Pedro has already missed a couple of games this season. But when the Brazilian is fully fit, he is an automatic starter. Jackson would not have received too many starting opportunities and would have become discontent, which would not have been good for the dressing room.

Overall, Pedro is a superior centre-forward. Both players are great at dropping deep and linking up play, but Pedro is the better finisher.

In Jackson’s best season at Chelsea, his debut campaign, the 25-year-old scored 14 goals in 2,810 minutes, as per Transfermarkt. Last term, Pedro scored one more goal than Jackson but in 136 fewer minutes.

The transfer fee was too good to turn down

With a smaller stadium and no front-of-shirt sponsor during the summer, the harsh reality is Chelsea do not make as much money as their rivals, at least not without player sales. With that in mind, they were never going to be able to say no to letting Jackson go.

The Blues paid around £30m for Jackson in 2024 and were able to sell the Senegal international for £65m to make a hefty profit. For a player who was going to be on the bench this season, it was a really good deal.

Nicolas Jackson may never develop into an elite finisher

While Jackson is finding the back of the net now, there are doubts as to whether he can someday become an elite finisher. His hold-up and link-up play have always been good, but finishing has been a bit of a weakness.

While a return of 14 goals from 35 Premier League games in his debut season was pretty impressive, Jackson had an xG of 19.86, according to Understat. It means he probably should have finished the campaign with at least 19 goals.

A year later, Jackson scored 10 goals in 30 top-flight outings with an xG of 13.83. There are chances the former Chelsea man should convert but fails to. It could stop him from fulfilling his full potential.