Aston Villa could delay trying to sign Nicolas Jackson until the end of the transfer window due to UEFA rules, talkSPORT understands.
The Villans have been heavily linked with a move for Jackson, who is free to leave Chelsea and is valued at around £65million.
Having spent the 2025/26 campaign away from Stamford Bridge on loan at Bayern Munich, the Senegal international now looks set for a clean break from the Blues.
Villa aren’t the only club being tipped to make a play for Jackson, with Spurs also linked with the striker.
But with Unai Emery’s side keen to strengthen after some high-profile departures – namely Morgan Rogers and Youri Tielemans – they could be interested in doing business with Chelsea again.
Knowing major sales would be required this summer to avoid falling foul of UEFA’s financial restrictions, Villa sanctioned the departure of Rogers to the Blues for a British record £117million.
That wasn’t the end of the two clubs’ deals either, as Alejandro Garnacho then headed to Villa Park on loan.
talkSPORT previously reported that the Argentina international had been offered to Villa alongside Jackson in the wake of their deal to sign Rogers.
And while a move for the Chelsea striker remains a possibility, talkSPORT’s Ben Jacobs has now revealed there are some obstacles that could delay any deal until later this summer.
Financial constraints
According to UEFA’s transfer rules, multiple deals completed between the same clubs within a 45-day period is classified as a swap.
With Rogers heading to Stamford Bridge at the end of July, Villa and Chelsea still find themselves within this window.
This means that, if Villa were to sign Jackson now, they would have to reduce the profit made from the Rogers sale to the difference between that figure and how much was paid for Jackson.
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Villa were able to avoid a similar situation with Garnacho by signing the winger on an initial loan deal with a conditional obligation to buy.
Speaking on talkSPORT’s Transfer Insiders, reporter Ben Jacobs explained how the Midlands outfit could now bide their time over Jackson, in order to comply with UEFA rules.
Jacobs explained: “Villa do like Nicolas Jackson.
“We heard some reports that Tottenham were in – that’s not my understanding. Spurs sources are denying that they’re going to bid for Nicolas Jackson.
“And then if Villa are going to move, maybe the reason why there’s no movement is; if both clubs are to reflect Morgan Rogers and should Jackson go to Villa, Nicolas Jackson [would go] positively on their books, because when you do these sales, you can take that transfer fee and you can put it on your annual books, and then if you’ve got an outlay, you can amortise it, which makes it a bit more palatable.
“But under the new UEFA rules, you can’t do these mirrored or separate deals within a 45 day window.”
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Jacobs explained: “If you roughly go back to when Morgan Rogers [moved to Chelsea], depending on when it was actually signed, and Chelsea might not have known that Villa were going to bid or potentially proceed with Jackson.
“But if you go back to that deal roughly, if it is to fall outside of a 45- day window, then it would likely suit both Villa and Chelsea to do that deal right at the end of the window, because we’re definitely still within that 45-day period now.”
Jacobs claimed UEFA restrictions have likely delayed any move by Villa for Jackson, while he also pointed to the striker’s situation at Chelsea.
With new boss Xabi Alonso keen to take a look at the 25-year-old before sanctioning a sale, he has joined up with the Blues squad for their pre-season tour of Australia and Asia.
However, he still faces an uncertain future following the arrival of veteran striker Danny Welbeck from Brighton.
Jacobs continued: “Maybe that’s why we haven’t had any update on Nicholas Jackson’s future, coupled with the fact that Xabi Alonso has just needed to see particularly both [Liam] Delap and Jackson in preseason before maybe inputting which one of them, or potentially both, he wants to depart.”
