Kalidou Koulibaly has said Chelsea forward Nicolas Jackson can win the Ballon d’Or if he believes in his own ability.
Koulibaly plays alongside Jackson at international level with Senegal and has kept a close eye on his progress at former club Chelsea.
Jackson has started the season in fine form for the Blues, having scored six goals and laid on three assists in 11 Premier League appearances.
The 23-year-old has bounced back from a difficult debut season in West London to emerge as one of the Premier League’s most improved players in 2024/25.
Koulibaly believes Jackson is capable of becoming ‘world class’ and said he is attempting to instil belief in the forward that he can be one of the finest forwards in the game.
He said Jackson can become just the second African footballer, after Liberia’s George Weah in 1995, to win the Ballon d’Or but that he must believe he is capable of achieving that feat.
“Nico Jackson has to believe he can be world class. All the players who have won the Ballon d’Or believed they could. So you have to put this in Nico’s head,” the ex-Chelsea defender and Senegal captain told Ben Jacobs.
“I don’t tell him to be selfish and ignore his teammates, but he has to think about the Ballon d’Or. If you put this image in his head, he can achieve it. And that’s what I tell him all the time.”
Jackson has scored 23 goals in 56 appearances since joining Chelsea in a £32m deal from Villarreal in 2023. He scored his first international goal for Senegal during October’s international break.
