Six years ago, Chelsea striker Nicolas Jackson was playing football barefoot in his native Senegal, his life so far removed from the opulence and glamor of the Premier League that he had never owned a pair of shoes.
Indeed, Jackson’s description of how difficult he had adjusting to playing in cleats is a jarring reminder of how far the Dakar has come from Ziguinchor to Ziguinchor, a nine-hour drive away, and how quickly he has accomplished it. Stamford Bridge via Villarreal.
Over an illuminating half-hour at Chelsea’s Cobham training ground, Jackson paved the way for the Premier League and provided Telegraph Sport with personal photographs of where it all began and where his mother Jeanne Malack works day and night. Farm.
“Playing on the streets in Ziguinchor was just playing with your friends,” Jackson said. “There is no club, you just play because you love the game. Maybe we play a euro against each other. To have fun, play without boots. You borrow someone’s boots to play barefoot or play.”
When asked if he had his own boots as a child, Jackson replied: “No, boots were expensive. I played with my school shoes or bare feet. I was maybe 16 when I bought my first boots. My mother bought them for me, they were cheap, not like the original boots. These were second-hand boots. I wasn’t used to them.” I didn’t play with them at first because I was used to playing with my bare feet, so it took time, it was a little weird.
“When I was growing up, I loved Cristiano Ronaldo. The shirt I always wore had his name on it. It’s not a real shirt because they’re expensive, so you don’t buy them. But I had a shirt with 7, Ronaldo, in pencil. I made it myself when I was a kid.”
“Of course I would act like him, but it was difficult to watch his matches because you had to pay. We would go to my friend’s house. We were watching with a big group, not just one person at home. All my friends, all of us, would go to the same house to watch Real Madrid.”
Jackson’s admiration for Ronaldo explains why he scored his first career hat-trick against nine-man Tottenham Hotspur, with the Portuguese striker’s famous ‘siuuu’ celebration.
“I always celebrated him, even when I was at Villarreal and I scored two goals,” the 22-year-old Jackson said. “So when I got a hat-trick, I had to do it. Now I will only do it for the hat-trick, not for every goal.
“That was my first hat-trick in my career. It was very special. The ball is in my living room so everyone can see it. I hope there will be many more but the first one is always very important and I will try to keep it very safe.”
If the hat-trick ball helps represent how far he has come and adds context to his ‘siuuu’ celebration, then another ball is significant in terms of Jackson’s belief that he was born to be a footballer.
“My mom and dad told me that they bought me a ball when I was little, before I could even talk. I had to be near the ball to put me to sleep. I was a baby. They didn’t take pictures because there was no camera, but I would sleep with the ball. If I woke up and couldn’t see the ball, I would cry. Everyone told me this. Football was something I had to do. “It’s just like something God gave you and said, ‘you’re going to do this.'”
‘I had to choose my own path’
This determination and belief convinced Jackson to leave school at the age of 16, even though he had never played for one of Senegal’s academies and had yet to attract the interest of any professional club.
“In Senegal, some kids go to the academy, but it’s not like my family from my father’s side doesn’t want me to play, it’s ‘are you going to be successful in football?’ something like. because it’s so hard,” Jackson said.
“You have to choose between going to school or playing football. I dropped out of school and everyone was mad at me. I don’t know what I would do if I wasn’t successful in football. They wanted me to go to school and finish everything, but I had to choose my own path.
“I had to fight and be strong. I wasn’t going to parties, I wasn’t smoking, I wasn’t drinking. I still didn’t do it. I had a lot of friends who did it, but I knew I was on my own and if it didn’t work it would be a hard life. I wasn’t the only one living a hard life in Africa, so I wasn’t afraid of it.”
Although she resented his decision to drop out of school, Jackson’s mother worked day and night to support her son, who believed that no matter how much he earned at Chelsea, he would never be able to repay the debt he owed her.
“You know mothers, they will do whatever it takes for you,” Jackson said. “They love you and always support you. I wasn’t going to school, but he was always supporting and helping me.
“He was working on a farm. Where I come from, a lot of people were farmers. He would have to work from morning to night to support me. He would farm and then sell. He would sell peanuts, watermelons, anything. I was playing football, I wasn’t selling or making money with him.
“I don’t want him to do anything anymore. He’s still in Senegal, he wants to work but I don’t. He doesn’t want to sit in one place, so we’ll have to see.
“You can never repay your mother and father. Especially your mother because she held you in her belly for nine months. Everything you do for him will never be enough. “I always try to do my best to make him happy.”
Jackson’s big break came when he was spotted by former Fulham striker Diomansy Kamara and, aged 17, joined Casa Sports, who were playing in Senegal’s top-flight professional league, for the 2018/19 season. The player, who was transferred to the Spanish team Villarreal after the trial in Benfica, was transferred to Chelsea this summer for £ 32 million.
“I was playing on the street, but some managers came to watch the games,” Jackson said. “Diomansy organized a tournament for the best players of Ziguinchor and saw me there. From there I went to Casa in the First League. Maybe seven months there and then in Spain.
“I never went to football school. I was just playing on the streets, I was fast and could dribble. But when I went to Spain, Unai Emery was there and developed me.”
Apart from the weather conditions in England, the biggest shock to the system since Jackson’s transfer to Chelsea has been the scrutiny placed on him and his team-mates.
During the defeat to Brentford, Jackson was distracted by a fan shouting ‘wake up’ at him as he spoke to head coach Mauricio Pochettino, and his goal-scoring instincts were questioned post-match by two former strikers turned experts, Alan Shearer and Peter Crouch. .
“I have to apologize to the fan,” Jackson said. “I’ve never experienced this before. At Villarreal you play without a lot of pressure because it is a different team but I know you come from a good place.
“Normally I don’t talk to fans or get distracted by what they say. I don’t know what happened to me. It must have been a disappointment. It’s no small thing that everyone in the game expects you to do whatever they want. Not because they hate you, but because they love you. They want you to make them happy. Now I know this. I was in Villarreal but it was a different environment. There are no such things there. “The situation is different at Chelsea.”
Asked about the criticism he received from Shearer and Crouch, Jackson added: “Cristiano would score 30 or 35 goals a season and people would criticize him. You would never hear him talk about it, he would just respond with celebration. So it doesn’t affect me. I’m learning from him, I never respond to criticism. What “I know I can do it, I believe in myself.”
Yellow cards equal to the number of goals
Jackson, who heads for Saturday’s trip to Newcastle United, has seven goals for Chelsea, the last of which came against Manchester City before the international break. He also has seven yellow cards to his name and has already been suspended for one match after picking up five yellow cards in his first six league matches.
Pochettino said he would fine Jackson “it’s not what you think, it’s not money” for his five yellow card suspensions, and the player believes he has served the penalty.
“One day I was running and I didn’t know why,” Jackson said. Maybe this is it. I died that day, I guess that was my punishment. They just called me to escape. I said ‘Why, what happened’ but I had to run. It was laps, it was really hard, there was intensity and when I finished I was lying down. I think it was.
Coach talked to me and told me to be careful. When you show a card, you get a yellow card. That’s what mattered. “I plan to change that.”
So will Jackson finish the season with more goals or a yellow card? “If I score 30 goals, I don’t mind getting 40 yellow cards! I have a (target) goal in mind. If I go there I will tell you at the end of the season. I’m sure I will.”