Saints are said to be on the verge of signing a striker according to media reports in Spain on the 21-year-old central striker, which state that he is ‘close to Southampton’. But should Saints be gambling on another young relatively unproven striker given the position they are in.
Villarreal's Nicola Jackson is a name that has cropped up in the last week or so in connection with Southampton FC , perhaps as his agent tries to drum up interest in the Senegalese striker.
Various reports in Spain say that initially Saints were interested on taking on loan till the end of the season, but Villarreal wanted a higher loan fee than Saints were willing to pay and also wanted a guaranteed buy clause at the end of the loan spell.
It is now being reported that Saints have changed tack and are now looking at purchasing him on a permanent basis.
Jackson joined Villarreal in 2019 and worked his way through their academy sides after a loan spell away from the club he started to break into the squad in 2021/22.
This season has seen him start to fulfil his potential and he has been a vital members of the Spanish club's squad, although he is used more as an impact player than a starter, he also played for Senegal in the recent World Cup.
That has seen his price go up considerably and if Saints are to buy him then they are probably going to have to pay something like £12-13 million for his services although the media reports say that any bidder might have to go higher than that with as high as £18 million quoted.
It is being said in Spain that Villarreal are now ‘close to certifying’ Jackson’s transfer to the Premier League side.
Also Jackson's representatives are saying similar things about their client being close to a transfer.
But given that Saints already have three strikers on the books with neither of them being particularly prolific so far, is buying a youngster the right thing to do for Saints, a side that lack a true proven goal scorer.
They gambled on Sekou Mara in the summer and although he has shown potential, that has yet to turn into goals, Mara although a year younger than Jackson arrived with more experience and more goals on his CV than Jackson currently have.
Whilst Jackson is a highly rated talent in Spain, the truth is he is not what Saints need at this present time, we need an experienced proven goal scorer at this level, someone who in the second half of the season get us 6-7 goals and has the track record that he can.
So if this was the summer I might get excited about Nicolas Jackson, but at the moment in our current position, I would rather see us spend money on experience and a proven scoring record.