Nicholas Jackson has spoken of the huge influence Portuguese idol Cristiano Ronaldo had on his career, with the Chelsea star hoping to emulate his idol at Stamford Bridge. After a trial in the Premier League, Jackson began to establish himself at Chelsea, with the striker scoring seven goals in all competitions.
Chelsea, 22, hope Jackson can continue on his upward trajectory and help Mauricio Pochettino push the club back to the level it once was. Jackson himself came from humble beginnings in Senegal, where he often played football with bare feet.
It was clips of watching Ronaldo as a child that inspired Jackson to become the striker he is today. “Growing up, I loved Cristiano Ronaldo. I had his name on a shirt I wore all the time,” Jackson told The Telegraph.
“Not a real shirt because they’re expensive so you don’t buy them. But I had a shirt and I wrote 7, Ronaldo, in pen on it. I made it myself when I was a kid. “
“Of course, I would pretend to be him, but it was difficult to watch him because you had to pay. We all went to my friend’s house. We would watch together in a big group instead of just one person at home.
“All my friends, we would go to a house to watch Real Madrid play.” Ronaldo vs Jackson as the Chelsea star scored his first career hat-trick against nine-man Tottenham Hotspur The impact is obvious.
Jackson turned away and imitated Ronaldo’s trademark “Siu” celebration, admitting he would repeat it with every hat-trick he scored for the rest of his career. The Senegal international also replicates Ronaldo’s mental toughness to shut out any criticism and outside noise.
Shearer criticized the forward’s “complete lack of movement” in response to the 22-year-old’s performance against Brentford at the start of the season. But Jackson chose not to retaliate against Shearer’s comments because he didn’t think it was something someone like Ronaldo would do.
“Cristiano will score 30 or 35 goals a season and people will criticize him,” he said. “You never hear him talk about it, he just responds with celebration.
“So it doesn’t affect me. I’m learning from him and I never respond to criticism. I know what I can do and I believe in myself.”