Chelsea transfer news: Nicolas Jackson facing prospect of Blues return after one season at Bayern Munich

Nicolas Jackson is seemingly more likely to return to Chelsea at the end of the season than complete a permanent transfer to Bayern Munich.

During the closing days of the summer transfer window, officials at each club were locked in intense negotiations over a deal for the 24-year-old.

Terms were eventually struck over a loan agreement of £14.3m with Bayern in line to pay a further £56.2m should they acquire his services on a full-time basis.

Although the suggestion has always been that certain clauses must be met for that to come to fruition, the perception has been that they were formalities should Jackson stay fit and the player has talked up his happiness at moving to the Allianz Arena.

Instead, Bayern honorary president Uli Hoeness has indicated that the Bundesliga champions are highly unlikely to be forced into paying the aforementioned fee.

Hoeness casts doubt over Jackson Bayern transfer

On an appearance on Doppelpass, Hoeness claimed that Jackson will only automatically become a Bayern player if he makes 40 starts during 2025-26.

As a result, Hoeness has talked up the belief that Bayern are getting value for money for a player who contributed 30 goals and 12 assists from 81 games for Chelsea.

Commenting on the fee itself, he said: "Firstly, it wasn’t €16.5 million, the player and his agents paid €3 million. The player cost €13.5 million.

“If a player costs €80 million across a five-year contract, it costs around €16 million every year, so it’s a good transfer.”

Hoeness added: “He must play 40 games as a starter. He’ll never do that."

Does clause benefit Chelsea or Bayern?

As alluded to by Hoeness, Jackson appears unlikely to be given 40 starts by Bayern, that only potentially becoming a possibility if Bayern go all the way in the Champions League and DFB-Pokal.

Harry Kane is the undisputed first choice down the middle of the attack and Jackson may rack up more starts if presented with opportunities down the flanks.

From Chelsea's perspective, they would have naturally preferred a softer stance over appearances, but receiving over £14m for a loan transfer when a £32m signing from 2023 has a contract until 2033 is extremely good business in the short term.

Even though Bayern seemingly have some leverage to re-negotiate a fee for Jackson at a later date, Chelsea still remain in control and could plausibly demand higher.