The Hinrunde has been successful for Bayern Munich. They have gained a significant lead of nine points at the top of the Bundesliga points table. Bayern are well poised to qualify for the round of 16 in the Champions League, and they are still involved in the DFB Pokal.
There was a lot of scepticism around Bayern’s season after a difficult summer transfer window. Vincent Kompany lost a lot of experience from the squad in the form of Leroy Sane, Thomas Müller, and Kingsley Coman. The Bavarian club failed to sign their primary targets and had to eventually pivot to backup options.
Luis Diaz has hit the ground running for Bayern, scoring 12 goals across all competitions in the first half of the season. The Colombian also has six assists to his name this season in the Bavarian colours. The other signing in the attack, Nicolas Jackson, has not enjoyed a similar level of productivity.
The Senegalese forward joined Bayern on a season-long loan from Chelsea, with the option to buy becoming an obligation if certain conditions are met. While talking to the media recently in Germany (via iMiaSanMia), Max Eberl insisted that the current tendency is not to sign Jackson permanently in the summer.
"There's no tendency yet."Max Eberl on signing Nicolas Jackson
Jackson needs a strong Ruckrunde to convince Bayern
Jackson has not been bad for Die Roten, but his performances are compared with Harry Kane, who is the first choice striker under Vincent Kompany. The English forward is one of the most prolific goal scorers in Europe.
The Senegalese forward has managed to score five goals for Die Roten across all competitions in Hinrunde. He is averaging a goal every 100 minutes for Bayern, which is fine for a backup number nine. However, this output from Jackson doesn’t justify the need for Bayern to pay a €65 million fee on top of his €16.5 million loan fee.
The former Villarreal forward will miss the first few weeks of the Ruckrunde due to his participation in the AFCON for Senegal. Jackson will have to play out of his skin in the rest of the games during the second half of the season to convince Bayern to complete a permanent move in the summer.
Even if Bayern and Kompany are convinced about signing Jackson next summer, they will only pursue a move for a discounted price instead of the clause currently included in the deal with Chelsea. The Premier League club will unlikely budge on a fee, putting the ball in Jackson’s court to find a way to seal a move to Bavaria.
Stats courtesy- Whoscored