Chelsea have cancelled Nicolas Jackson’s proposed loan move to Bayern Munich after Liam Delap suffered a hamstring injury in Saturday’s 2-0 win over Fulham.
Jackson, 24, had already travelled to Germany for a medical and was set to join the Bundesliga champions on loan with an option to buy for £69 million.
However, Chelsea moved swiftly to cancel the deal once it became clear that Delap, who limped off after just 12 minutes at Stamford Bridge, would be sidelined for six to eight weeks.
The Senegal international was reportedly informed mid-journey that he would instead be returning to London to remain part of Enzo Maresca’s squad.
Speaking after the derby win, Maresca admitted he had not been aware of the club’s final decision during his post-match press conference but hinted at the need to keep squad depth intact.
“When you have two strikers, it’s enough. When one of them is injured for different weeks, probably it’s not enough,” Maresca said.
“Today we played more than an hour with Tyrique [George], and he did brilliantly. Last year, we also used Pedro [Neto] as a No.9 in some games. We always look for solutions, but having two proper strikers is important.”
Jackson’s return spares Chelsea a potential striker crisis, with the club now set to rely on him heavily during Delap’s absence.
