Николас Жексон Астон Вилла дахь шинэ гараа болон гоолын баяраараа шүүмжлэгчдэд хариу барьж байна

The first thing to say about Nicolas Jackson is he seems, generally, a nice enough person and I have no reason to think otherwise. The second is that his current goal celebration is perhaps the most terrifying thing in the Premier League right now: the finger raised first to the ear, the outstretched thumb hovering in the balance and then flicking downwards, followed by the action of slicing his throat from left to right and the cold stare down the lens of the pitchside camera and into your soul. Mercy? No, very much like Russell Crowe’s Maximus in Gladiator, itself the inspiration behind the striker’s thumb down gesture, Nicolas Jackson is out for vengeance, and his targets are in his sights.

Jackson has scored seven goals for Aston Villa since joining from Chelsea at the end of August. His double in Villa’s 2-1 win over Manchester City, and his former manager Enzo Maresca, last weekend, to end their 100 per cent record, took him to six goals in his last six appearances for Unai Emery’s side, including four in four in the Premier League. He has become the leading man in the new-look attack that is Emery’s Villa 2.0, ensuring the departure of Ollie Watkins, who Villa sold to Al Hilal for £50m, has largely gone forgotten. He is doing everything Emery wants from his striker: pressing from the front, running the channels, and, yes, being clinical in the box when the chances arrive.

That it comes as a surprise that Jackson has suddenly found an eye for goal is perhaps unfair, but it is a reputation that was forged, of course, by his previous two-year spell in the Premier League at Chelsea. Jackson was 22 when he was signed by the ensemble of Chelsea’s various sporting directors for £32m, as part of a transfer policy designed to bet on youth and potential. He arrived as a relative novice, following a season at Villarreal where he had played less than half of the minutes available to him at LaLiga. Scoring 17 goals in 44 appearances under Mauricio Pochettino in his first season in English football was, on reflection, a decent return, but Jackson became defined more by the opportunities he didn’t take than the ones he did.

Rightly or wrongly, a narrative set in: Jackson was willing but raw, wasteful and, at times, ill-disciplined (managing to pick up eight yellow cards before Christmas in his first season is some achievement, but it added to the frustration). Jackson’s underperformance on xG (expected goals) also became a stick to beat him with. The Senegal international had the fifth-highest xG in the Premier League in his first season, with 18.7, but scored just 14 goals. After Chelsea sacked Pochettino that summer the pattern continued under Maresca, scoring 10 goals from 12.3 xG. By the time Jackson was sent off in a crucial away game at Newcastle for elbowing Sven Botman, patience was already wearing thin. It felt as if it had run out completely when Jackson was sent off again during that summer’s Club World Cup.

Eventually, Jackson seemed to be dragged down by the focus on what he was not doing – not converting enough chances – rather than being lifted up and encouraged by what he was – which was getting those chances in the first place. Only five players (Erling Haaland, Mohamed Salah, Alexander Isak, Watkins and Cole Palmer) registered more xG than Jackson during his previous two seasons in the Premier League, and Jackson was not even taking penalties. Landing on the conclusion that Jackson was a poor finisher seemed to rule out the possibility that he could, one day, deliver the goals he was expected to if he worked on his shooting and sharpened his instincts in the box. What he needed was a little time, a little care, a little space to grow up. He was not going to find that in the constant churn at Chelsea, although they may argue selling Jackson to Villa for a huge profit, in a deal that could reach £65m, was a successful piece of business.

Profit and financial return is not, though, what football should be about. At Aston Villa, Jackson has reunited with a manager in Emery who gave him his first break at Villarreal five years ago, but a coach whose relentless energy appears to derive from demanding hard work and driving improvements in his players at every opportunity. Emery looked at Jackson and saw a player who was already an ideal fit for his system, but could jump to another level if he slowed down in the box and developed that dead-eye finishing that defines the elite. “His challenge has been when he can have chances to score, always [aim] in the corner of the goals, because he was shooting so much at the beginning of the season like in rugby,” Emery told TNT Sports following Jackson’s brace against City, mimicking with his hand a skyward shot that was blazed over the posts. “So he is progressing as well.”

It was, in truth, a bit of a dig, but delivered in the classic Emery way that meant it came from a supporter, as well. He also enthused about Jackson’s all-round impact. “How he was working, how he was defending, how he was getting duels – wow,” said a coach who is not often prone to hyperbole. The challenge now, of course, is continuing that, and sustaining what is actually now a pattern of overperformance following four Premier League goals from 1.84 xG since he arrived at Villa. These are early days, but the look Jackson is firing down the TV cameras confirms that he has indeed read your takes and kept the receipts from two years ago. In the eyes of Premier League fans, he has been the one to be written off. Now it’s Jackson’s turn to be judge, jury and executioner. The outstretched thumb is hanging horizontally, and you’d better hope it doesn’t end up pointing down.