Chelsea striker Nicolas Jackson silenced his doubters by scoring a hattrick in his side’s stunning 4-1 win over Tottenham Hotspur to end their unbeaten run in the Premier League at their own yard.
In doing so, the Senegalese striker proved that he belongs in Mauricio Pochettino’s side and can get things done in heated matches like a London derby.
With that being said, Jackson surprised some fans by actually doing Cristiano Ronaldo’s ‘SIUUU’ celebration after scoring against Spurs. In doing so, he basically outed himself as a Ronaldo fanboy.
The Chelsea striker, however, is not at all ashamed of professing his love for the five-time Ballon d’Or winner in public.
The 22-year-old has actually been a Ronaldo fanboy since his childhood days in Senegal. He might be earning good money right now, but Nicolas had a difficult upbringing and had to go through a lot of hardship as a teenager.
He didn’t have any fancy footballing equipment and couldn’t really watch live matches either. But he considered Ronaldo as an inspiration and worshipped him during his childhood years.
Jackson spoke of his love for Ronaldo in a recent interview with The Telegraph, saying-
When I was growing up, I loved Cristiano Ronaldo. I had his name on a shirt that I always wore. Not an actual shirt because they are expensive… but I had a shirt that I put 7, Ronaldo on with a pen.
I did it myself when I was a kid. Of course, I would pretend to be him, but it was difficult to watch his games because you needed to pay. I played in my school shoes or with bare feet. Maybe 16 was when I got my first boots.
My mum bought me them, they were cheap, not like original boots. They were second-hand boots. I didn’t play with them to start with because I was not used to them. I was used to playing with my bare feet. So it took time, it was a bit strange.
Jackson also plans to keep repeating the SIUU celebration if he scores more hat-tricks and seems to be in love with Ronaldo’s iconic move.
He added:
I always did his celebration, even when I was at Villarreal and I scored two goals. So when I got a hat-trick, I had to do it. Now I’ll only do it for hat-tricks, not every goal.
The Senegalese forward appears to be a proper Ronaldo fanboy and it isn’t surprising that he is one. That is because when he was growing up, the Portugal forward was enjoying his peak years at Manchester United and Real Madrid, scoring goals consistently and being any budding striker’s dream.
Jackson has seemingly earned a lot of respect from Ronaldo’s fans from social media, who are praising him for publicly voicing his love and devotion for the Portuguese icon.
Some believe that Ronaldo’s influence in inspiring budding players from the slums or struggling backgrounds help him stand out in modern football too.
Jackson might idolize the ex-Manchester United star, but he still has A LONG way to go to match even a portion of his achievements.
For starters, the Senegalese forward will look to maintain consistency in scoring goals for the Blues and make that no.9 role his own for years to come.
