Chelsea forward Nicolas Jackson has revealed that he was close to signing for Aston Villa during the 2023 January transfer window.

The Senegal international has established himself as one of the best strikers in the Premier League over the past 18 months.

A total of 22 goals - none of which have been netted from the penalty spot - and eight assists have come from 49 appearances in the competition for an improved Blues outfit.

However, Jackson could have taken a different career path had a hamstring injury at the beginning of 2023 not stopped him from moving to a different top-flight club.

'Emery wanted me at Villa'

Bournemouth are known to have opted against signing Jackson at that point because of the aforementioned fitness issue, leaving Jackson to remain at Villarreal.

Jackson returned to contribute nine strikes and two assists from 11 league games for the Yellow Submarine, under a different manager in Quique Setien who had replaced Unai Emery when the Spaniard moved to Aston Villa in October 2022.

As quoted by a number of outlets, including football.london, Jackson has revealed that a reunion with Emery in the West Midlands was in the offing until Villa felt that he could not make an immediate impact.

He said: "When Unai left, he wanted me to go to Aston Villa, but I was injured. I wanted to leave because the coach came in. I had to go, but I was injured a little bit in my hamstring.

"We went there, they checked and said I needed one more month and they want me now. If they want me in one week, two weeks, I was not ready, so they had to cancel the transfer, and I went back.

"When I went back, I was very angry. Not angry I didn't sign because when we were on the plane, I told my friend, 'Don't worry, better things will come and that's life.'

"Then I started working more to play with Villarreal. When I came back, I think I scored 12 goals in two months."

What else has Jackson said?

The 23-year-old acknowledged earlier this week that AC Milan were another club that were interested in his signature before he moved to Chelsea.

While there has been criticism of wasted chances during his time with the West Londoners, Jackson has insisted that he has used it as fuel to become one of Chelsea's most important players.