Why Nicolas Jackson is Allowed to Play Against Chelsea in the Champions League

The Blues eventually allowed the Senegalese striker to join Bayern Munich on loan in the summer.

Nicolas Jackson joined Bayern on loan during the summer transfer window. / Alexandra Beier/AFP via Getty Images

Fernando Morientes remains the benchmark for loanees out to haunt their parent club, and Nicolas Jackson will be motivated to hurt Chelsea on Wednesday night.

A loyal and productive servant of Real Madrid after joining in 1997, Morientes eventually succumbed to Florentino Pérez’s Galáctico hunt and was forced to watch on as ’R9’ Ronaldo stole his minutes. Disgruntled, Madrid sanctioned Morientes’s departure late in the 2003 summer transfer window, supposedly keeping him well out of harm’s way by striking a loan deal with Monaco.

Little did Los Blancos know that a vengeful Morientes would await their superstars in the Champions League quarterfinals. The striker scored Monaco’s second away goal in the first leg before completing his devilish masterplan in the return fixture at the Stade Louis II. Madrid were 5–2 up on aggregate before Morientes teed up Ludovic Giuly and scored at the start of the second half to inspire Monaco’s triumph on away goals.

Wednesday’s occasion in Munich doesn’t boast quite the same significance, nor have the narratives aligned for Jackson to sink his former club, but UEFA rules, which haven’t changed since the days of Morientes, mean the striker can face his parent club.

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Why Nicolas Jackson Can Play for Bayern Munich vs. Chelsea

Jackson made his Bayern debut at the weekend. / Kevin Voigt/GettyImages

With Chelsea acquiring Liam Delap and João Pedro in the summer, Enzo Maresca deemed Jackson surplus to requirements and the striker eventually joined Bayern Munich later in the window.

The Senegalese international signed on an initial loan deal, with Bayern paying £14.3 million ($19.5 million) for Jackson’s services this season. Only if he makes a set number of appearances will he sign for the German champions permanently—a possibility already played down by Uli Hoeneß.

Harry Kane remains Bayern’s leading man up top, but Jackson’s presence does offer Vincent Kompany the chance to rotate his prolific Englishman out of the team when necessary. The Chelsea loanee made his Bundesliga debut off the bench in Saturday’s 5–0 beatdown of Hamburg, and he’s available to take on the Blues in Wednesday night’s league phase showdown.

While loan players are ineligible to play against their parent club in the Premier League and FA Cup, UEFA rules stipulate that clubs cannot apply “any influence whatsoever over the players that another club may [or may not] field in a match.”

Kane is a certainty to start for Kompany’s side in Gameweek 1, but Jackson could be called upon to haunt his parent club. The chances of him ’doing a Morientes’ are slim, but UEFA’s rules render it a possibility.

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