"Why not?" – Nicolas Jackson can be as good as Erling Haaland claims World Cup winner

Yesterday at 12:50 PM

Chelsea are flying high in the table and that means the bad vibes have turned good, and suddenly the worldwide media is full of praise for the Blues:

"Marc Cucurella is definitely one player I'd consider giving the armband too, he has been extremely solid this season, but I also think Moises Caicedo would be a great option. What a player he is," Emmanuel Petit said today on ESPN.

That's quite the turnaround since the start of the season, when Petit told Cucurella to "shut his mouth" after he was taken to the cleaners by Erling Haaland. But then again, that's the sort of turnaround Cucurella has had.

If you'd told us 12 months ago, when the full back was at his nadir, that he'd be talked about as a potential captain, we wouldn't have believed you.

Nicolas Jackson compared to world's top goalscorer

Speaking of Haaland – Petit made a bold claim in the same interview. He said he sees no reason that Nicolas Jackson, the symbol of Chelsea's resurgence this season, can't rack up numbers of goals close to what the Norwegian gets.

"Can Jackson be as good as Haaland? Why not? I have no reason to doubt he can replicate the numbers of Haaland. He has such talent around him. Neto, Palmer, so many players who can give him the ball to score<" the former midfielder mused.

"His movement and his understanding with his teammates are great and he's only going to get better, too."

We're going to stop short of comparing them in terms of goals, simply because Haaland has that incredible poacher's instinct and ice cold finishing which Jackson doesn't have.

But in terms of their all round games, Jackson offers a lot more to the team and is useful in so many ways. The gap between them is certainly shrinking.