Alan Shearer right in clear Chelsea transfer message amid ‘unfair’ Nicolas Jackson claims

Alan Shearer has branded the number of minutes Nicolas Jackson has had to play this season “unfair” after the striker scored his 17th goal of the season at the weekend.

The 22-year-old striker headed his 17th goal in all competitions for Chelsea in his first season in England. Signed for £30 million last summer from Villarreal, the club saw Jackson as someone who could make an immediate impact, but they had planned for him to be almost a secondary player, football.london understand.

Jackson has played more than 3,600 minutes in all competitions for the Blues this season – despite missing almost a month after representing Senegal at the Africa Cup of Nations. The numerous injuries suffered by Christopher Nkunku this season and Chelsea’s decision to allow Armando Broja to leave the club on loan in January mean that Jackson, for most, is the Blues’ only recognized striker.

Shearer is correct in his analysis of Jackson. The Premier League’s all-time top scorer acknowledges the struggles of Jackson’s first season in a new country, making his tally of 17 goals even more impressive.

“I just think it’s been very unfair to him this season because he’s had to play most of the games and he’s clearly very raw,” Shearer said on The Rest is Football podcast. “He should have been in and out most of the time during the season rather than being a regular just to sit and learn. That would take the pressure off him.

“Put it on when it’s needed and take it off when it’s needed. But he’s had to play the vast majority, which has been unfair on him because he’s not ready for it.

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“He’s definitely got talent. He’s a really good runner with the ball, he runs really well in behind which defenders hate. He’s got a lot of pace.

“He needs to review a lot of things, including his finishing, which is probably the most important thing, but he can improve on that. We know that.”

Chelsea are widely expected to be busy in the summer transfer window and bring in a new striker, football.london understands, is at the top of the club’s agenda. If the Blues can pull this off, the short-term pain for Jackson, in terms of reducing his minutes next season, may well turn out to be a long-term gain.

The plan this season for the Senegal international was for him to take his time to adapt to life in England without relying too much on him on the pitch. But circumstances handed him the overwhelming responsibility of scoring goals for Chelsea.

And while his finishing has been inconsistent at times, the fact that he’s found himself in such dangerous positions is definitely a positive sign. His movements off the ball have been very good and defenders seem to have a lot of difficulty containing his shoulder runs. His lightning speed makes him incredibly difficult to keep an eye on while running behind.

Jackson’s goal against Nottingham Forest on Saturday, which proved to be the match-winning moment at the City Ground, surpassed Didier Drogba’s goal in his first season at Chelsea. Despite this, the striker knows that there is still a lot to do in the Blues jersey.

Speaking to Sky Sports earlier this month, Jackson said: “I think I should have scored more with the chances I missed. It’s good, but it’s not what I wanted to be when I arrived: to play the Champions League next season Everything happens for a reason and we try to fight next year.

“Even if I score 10 or 15, the most important thing is that the team is as high as possible and makes the fans happy. Then the goals will come.

“I try to improve every day. The most important thing is to be available for the team, to help the team and to play. I miss a lot of things but I try to create more chances and to score more. I hope that next year it will be better.

There has been a lot of criticism leveled at Jackson this season. And this isn’t helped by social media and its ability to write off a player and ignore all the context around them.

Shearer was correct in his assessment of Jackson. I’m not sure why other experts sometimes fail to add context – which is absolutely imperative – to Jackson’s situation.