Koulibaly: "Nicolas Jackson has the talent to win the Ballon d'Or"
Al Hilal defender Kalidou Koulibaly believes that his compatriot, Chelsea forward Nicolas Jackson, has the potential to win the Ballon d'Or.
"Nicolas is a very nice player. Everyone wanted more from him last year, but he is young. It's true that at Chelsea the demand is very high. They want a lot of goals, assists and players to be very good from the beginning.
I hope he will continue to score. We know for all strikers life is goals, and Nicolas is no different. He has a good attitude and personality. And for me, he'll become the story of Senegal, just like Sadio Mane did. I am always telling him he has to follow Mane. And I hope he will be the best player in Africa and why not in the world? He has the talent, so all things are at his feet.
Nicolas has to believe he can be this good. That is the most important thing. All the players who have won the Ballon d'Or believed they could. They all thought they could win this trophy. So you have to put this in Nicolas' head.
Of course, I don't tell him to be selfish and ignore his teammates, but he has to think about the Ballon d'Or, and if you put this image in his head, he can achieve it. And that's what I tell him all the time.
Nicolas Jackson has been playing for Chelsea since 2023. In the current season, the 23-year-old Senegalese has scored six goals and provided three assists in ten matches for the Blues. The forward's contract with the London club runs until the summer of 2033.
The first and only African Ballon d'Or winner was Liberian striker George Weah, who received the award in 1995 while playing for AC Milan.
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