This summer has to be one of Chelsea’s best in a very long time.

On the pitch, Enzo Maresca has led his men to Club World Cup glory, and off the pitch, they’ve been incredibly active in the transfer market.

The likes of Liam Delap, Joao Pedro and Jamie Gittens have all joined and improved the side, and yet the Blues continue to be linked with some of the most exciting players in the world, like Hugo Ekitiké.

In fact, one of the West Londoners’ current players is being linked with an exit, an exit that could free up space to sign the £85m Frenchman, although with Newcastle United and Liverpool both reportedly keen, they will have to move quickly.

Why so many teams want Ekitike

It was earlier this week that news of Newcastle’s interest in Ekitike began to gather pace, and then yesterday afternoon, more reports emerged claiming Liverpool were also looking at him as an alternative to an even more ambitious deal for Alexander Isak.

So are three of the biggest clubs in the Premier League all interested in signing the Eintracht Frankfurt forward this summer?

Well, simply put, he proved himself to be a lean, mean output machine in Germany last season and the sort of player who could help all three sides achieve their goals next season.

For example, in 48 appearances last season, totalling 3644 minutes, the prolific Reims-born forward scored a whopping 22 goals and provided 12 assists to boot.

That means the former Paris Saint-Germain prospect averaged a goal involvement every 1.41 games, or every 107.17 minutes – talk about world-class.

Moreover, that level of output would be incredible for a striker at the very peak of his career, but the Frenchman is nowhere near the peak, as he is still just 23 years old, and according to research carried out by The Athletic, he has another four years before he reaches it.

In other words, with the right coaching and the right team, we can expect his numbers to continue improving for some time, which is a scary yet exciting thought.

With all that said, due to his massive price tag and the hefty wages he’d probably demand, Chelsea would likely need to sell a player before moving for him, which, based on reports, they could do, and to a Premier League rival no less.

The star Chelsea could sell

With Delap and Pedro joining the side this summer and already impressing at the Club World Cup, it would make sense for Chelsea to consider selling a striker to facilitate room for Ekitike.

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Therefore, the player in question who could well depart Stamford Bridge this summer is none other than Nicolas Jackson, who, according to Sky Sports’ Dharmesh Sheth, is being monitored by several top sides, including Manchester United and Aston Villa.

In terms of the potential fee the Senegalese star could generate for the Blues, reports vary.

On Saturday morning, the Sun revealed that the club had placed a whopping £100m price tag on his head, but then later that same day, French journalist Nabil Djellit claimed that the West Londoners would be willing to let the player leave for around €70m, which converts to £61m.

Whatever the final price ends up being, it appears that Chelsea will make a sizable profit on the £32m they paid for the “unbelievable” forward, as dubbed by Peter Crouch, two years ago.

Moreover, it’d free up more funds to sign Ekitike, who would be a massive upgrade.

Jackson scored 13 goals and provided six assists in 37 appearances, totalling 2535 minutes last season, which comes out to an average of 1.94 goal involvements per match or one every 133.42 minutes.

That is not a bad rate of return by any means, but it does pale in comparison to what the Frankfurt star was able to produce last season.

Ultimately, Jackson is a good player, but if selling him this summer allows the club to sign Ekitike, then Chelsea should be doing all they can to drum up even more interest, even if the fee ends up closer to £60m than £100m.