Mauricio Pochettino has revealed he always believed in Nicolas Jackson and is pleased to see the striker repaying the faith shown in him.
The Argentine has called for patience with Chelsea’s young stars since the beginning of the season insisting it will take time whilst they adapt to a new club, a new life and for the majority a new country.
One such player is Jackson who arrived from Spanish side Villareal for £32m last summer.
The 22 year old has faced criticism this season particularly for his finishing but does boast 12 goals in all competitions and has scored in the Blues last three games.
Comparisons have been made between the Senegalese internationals first season and Didier Drogba’s first season at the club.
The Ivorian scored 16 in all competitions with ten coming in the league, a tally which Jackson is just one shy of.
Pochettino has said he has always believed in the former Villareal and speaking to the clubs’s official website said: “The most important thing was to support him when it was a tough moment for him.”
“I’ve always said that I really believe in him and I really believe that he is going to be very successful here, because he has the quality and the capacity.”
“Now he is doing much better, but he still needs to improve a lot. The numbers are similar to Drogba’s first season and that maybe gives the fans more belief in him, to be a little bit more patient with him.”
The Argentine added that he felt people put too much pressure on him and said: “I think the problem was with the circumstances of the team. People were waiting to have better results and he was a player who arrived needing support, needing help and time to adapt to the club and to perform.”
“Then all the pressure was on him because he was the only striker, with [Christopher] Nkunku injured and [Armando] Broja coming back from a long injury. So people demanded too much, for him to score in every single game and with every single action.”
“Of course that is not easy, but I hope now that people begin to understand he has the capability to be very good for us.”