LONDON:

Chelsea striker Nicolas Jackson has reportedly stayed in Germany in a bid to revive his aborted loan move to Bayern Munich after the deal was called off at the last minute.

Jackson flew to Munich on Saturday to seal his season-long switch to the Bundesliga champions, only to be told the move had to be aborted due to Chelsea’s injury problems.

Blues striker Liam Delap will be sidelined for up to eight weeks after suffering a hamstring problem in Saturday’s win over Fulham, while England forward Cole Palmer is also out due to a groin injury.

With Christopher Nkunku having joined AC Milan this week, Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca would be left with Joao Pedro as his only fit senior striker if Jackson were allowed to leave.

Speaking after a 3-2 win at Augsburg on Saturday, Bayern sporting director Max Eberl confirmed that the deal was off.

“Chelsea informed us that they would like the player back after we agreed yesterday,” he said.

“The situation now is that the lad is here in Munich, but we are sending him back.”

But Jackson, 24, was angry with Chelsea’s late change of plans and is believed to have opted against leaving Germany on Sunday while his representatives work to resolve the stand-off.

Jackson’s agent Diomansy Kamara had insisted on social media that his player was not returning to Chelsea.

“We’re not going back. The plane doesn’t go backwards: Munich,” he said.

Meanwhile, Chelsea are reportedly exploring a move for Sporting Lisbon’s Conrad Harder before Monday’s transfer deadline, which could open the way for Jackson to join Bayern after all.

Chelsea are reported to prefer selling Jackson on a permanent basis rather than reviving a loan deal.

Earlier on Saturday, a deal had been agreed that would have seen the Senegal striker move for an initial £13 million (15 million euros) loan fee with an option for Bayern to make the deal permanent for £52 million.

Jackson, who has not played for Chelsea this season, had been told that he was not a part of Maresca’s plans following the signings of Delap from Ipswich and Joao Pedro from Brighton.

Jackson has endured a turbulent time at Chelsea since joining from Villarreal two years ago, with criticism of his erratic finishing marring his spell in west London.