Former Chelsea defender Kalidou Koulibaly believes Nicolas Jackson can win the Ballon d’Or one day and has told the striker how he could do it.

Jackson, 23, signed for Chelsea for Villarreal last summer and scored 23 goals in his first season in all competitions – 17 goals and six assists.

He has maintained his form during this campaign, scoring six goals in his first nine Premier League outings. Jackson keeps his promises and manages to keep Christopher Nkunku, who signed from RB Leipzig, on the bench and patiently waits for his chances under Enzo Maresca.

The Chelsea head coach has been seriously impressed by the Senegalese international and Jackson will be hoping to surpass his 17 goals from last season this time around.

Jackson earned praise from Koulibaly, who left Chelsea last summer after just one season at the club after struggling to adapt to the cutthroat nature of life in England and the top flight.

Manchester City midfielder Rodri won the 2024 Ballon d’Or after beating Vinicius Jr and Jude Bellingham for the coveted individual prize.

Koulibaly believes Chelsea’s Jackson can win the award in the future if he implants this mindset in his head, but however warned the striker not to be “selfish and ignore his teammates”.

“I hope he continues to score” Koulibaly told Ben Jacobs. “We know that for all strikers, life is about goals, and Nicolas is no different. He has a good attitude and a good personality. And for me, he will become the story of Senegal, just like Sadio Mané. I always tell him that he has to follow Mané and I hope that he will be the best player in Africa and why not in the world. He has the talent, so everything is at his feet.

“Nicolas must believe that he can be that good. That’s the most important thing. All the players who won the Ballon d’Or believed in it. They all believed that they could win this trophy. So we have to put this in Nicolas’ head.

“Of course, I’m not telling him to be selfish and ignore his teammates, but he has to think about the Ballon d’Or, and if we put that image in his head, he can achieve it. And that’s what that I tell him all the time.

“Nicolas must think that he can be the best in Senegal and one of the best in the world, and then he will become one of the best in the world. He must continue to work. With work, he can achieve all the goals . So I hope he will at least do what Mané did and be in the top three for the Ballon d’Or. It would be really incredible for him.