Nicolas Jackson has told Chelsea he wants to leave following interest from Newcastle United, according to reports.

Jackson was left out of Chelsea’s squad for their pre-season friendly against Bayer Leverkusen at Stamford Bridge on Friday.

The striker, who was signed in a £32 million deal from Villarrreal two years ago, had initially indicated that he wanted to stay at Chelsea despite the arrivals of Joao Pedro and Liam Delap this summer.

However, The Guardian reports that Jackson has now informed Chelsea’s hierarchy that he wants to move before the end of the summer transfer window.

The report adds that Newcastle are frontrunners to sign Jackson, while Chelsea would be willing to accept a fee of around £65m having initially valued the 24-year-old at £80m.

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