Alan Shearer sends Chelsea transfer message after watching Nottingham Forest win

Chelsea have been told to sign a ‘big name’ striker this summer to help the development of Nicolas Jackson in the coming seasons.

The summer signing has had a mixed first season at Stamford Bridge since completing a £30 million move from Villarreal in the summer. He scored what turned out to be the winning goal in the 3-2 victory over Nottingham Forest at the City Ground on Saturday evening - his 17th goal in all competitions this season.

Speaking on Match of the Day on Saturday night, former striker Alan Shearer delivered his verdict on Jackson this season. The Premier League’s record goal scorer highlighted where he can improve and how Chelsea can help him do that this summer.

“I think today’s performance summed up his season, some really good bits and some poor bits,” he said. “He’s definitely raw but there is big potential there.

“He’s very good at that, a good runner with the ball, his runs in behind are really intelligent, but little things like this, making a simple decision of when and how to pass that ball, sometimes the easiest ones are the most difficult ones to do. Look how far he’s carried the ball forward, not got great options, but he does ok there, it’s that final thing where he’s got to brush up on.”

Shearer added: “He’s 22 years of age, 29 starts, 14 goals. I think that’s a decent return, it’s been a little bit unfair on him at times because he needed to be left out but he couldn’t because a lack of numbers in that squad.

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“He’ll learn, he’ll get better, he’ll bring someone in I’m sure. They do need another number nine because he’s not ready to be a regular there, he’s had to put up with that all season and that’s why we’re picking little bits from him.

“But another number nine in there, a big name that he can work alongside and along with, he can get better I’m sure of it.”

Chelsea continue to be linked with a move for Napoli forward Victor Osimhen, while Brentford striker Ivan Toney has also been linked with a move to Stamford Bridge. Mauricio Pochettino has also said that Romelu Lukaku could come back into the fold upon his return from a loan spell with AS Roma this summer.