Chelsea have signed centre-forward Nicolas Jackson from Villarreal on an eight-year contract, while Ruben Loftus-Cheek leaves the Blues to join Milan - 19 years after being signed by the west Londoners. 

Jackson's arrival, along with that of Christopher Nkunku last week, goes a long way to addressing Chelsea's goalscoring woes, which were painfully obvious last season as they came 12th - their lowest Premier League finish since 1993/94. 

Born in The Gambia, Jackson moved to Senegal aged 16 before making the leap to join Villarreal in 2019 and then being loaned out to Spanish second-tier side Mirandes.

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In 2021/22, Jackson made the transition into Villarreal's first team under Unai Emery, but it was last term when he made the greatest strides, hitting a rich vein of form for the Yellow Submarine at the tail end of the campaign, netting nine times in eight matches. 

After the signing was made official, Chelsea co-sporting directors Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley said: "We are excited to welcome Nicolas to Chelsea.

"He is a young player with big potential, as he showcased for Villarreal last season.

"We believe he is ready for this next step in his career and look forward to him working with our new head coach, Mauricio Pochettino, and his Chelsea team-mates."

On his Instagram page, Jackson simply posted: "London is blue #Godisthegreatest".

Meanwhile, Loftus-Cheek's new home is San Siro after joining Chelsea at the age of eight. 

The midfielder won the FA Youth Cup twice before making his first-team bow in December 2014, replacing Cesc Fabregas against Sporting. 

After returning from a successful loan spell at Crystal Palace in 2017/18, the England international thrived in Maurizio Sarri's first season at Stamford Bridge, enjoying the best year of his career. 

However, a devastating Achilles rupture meant he barely featured in 2019/20, before struggling to make an impression at Fulham.

His last two seasons with Chelsea saw him make a combined 37 starts across all competitions, one of which was in the 3-0 home win over Milan in the Champions League in October 2022. 

Loftus-Cheek has signed a four-year deal with the Rossoneri and may well be expected to fill the void left by Sandro Tonali, who is expected to join Newcastle.