Nicolas Jackson Shows His Champions League Quality. Aston Villa Have Upgraded.

Replacing Ollie Watkins was one of my biggest concerns during the summer because, regardless of how his departure from Aston Villa came about, I knew just how difficult it would be to find another centre-forward capable of giving us everything he had offered under Unai Emery.

Everyone knows how much I loved Watkins as a Villa player, and I don't think we should underestimate the contribution he made during an incredible period for the football club. His movement, work rate, goals and willingness to run himself into the ground were all important parts of the way Emery wanted his team to play, and I genuinely wondered whether we could find somebody who would be able to replicate those qualities.

Watching Nicolas Jackson score twice against Fenerbahçe in the Champions League, having been impressed by pretty much everything I've seen from him so far this season, I'm beginning to wonder whether Villa might actually have managed to upgrade in a position where I thought doing so would be incredibly difficult.

It's early, of course, and Jackson has a long way to go before he can be compared with everything Watkins achieved during his time at Villa, but the signs are so encouraging that I think we have every reason to be excited about what he could become under Emery.

His two goals against Fenerbahçe were taken brilliantly, and what really impressed me was how easy he made both finishes look. He was incredibly sharp in front of goal, found the corners with such confidence and looked like a centre-forward who genuinely believed he was going to score whenever an opportunity presented itself.

I was convinced he would complete his hat-trick before half-time, and it was a little unfortunate that he didn't get the opportunity to take the penalty, although Ross Barkley certainly wasn't going to complain about the chance to score twice himself.

There was so much more to Jackson's performance than the goals, though, and there was one particular passage of play in the second half where his ability to hold onto possession was absolutely exceptional. I still don't really know how he managed to retain the ball in the situation he found himself in, but it demonstrated the strength, balance and technical ability that are making him such an exciting player to watch.

He's deceptively strong, incredibly quick, has excellent feet and is comfortable dropping into deeper positions to link play. He can stretch defenders with his movement, drift into wider areas when required and has the ability to create something for himself when it looks like there isn't much available.

In many ways, he is a completely different type of centre-forward to Watkins, but he also gives you plenty of the qualities that made Ollie so effective. There is an irrepressible nature to the way Jackson plays, and I love watching somebody who can cause defenders so many different problems throughout a game.

What makes the situation particularly interesting is the influence Emery could have on his development, because I think there are similarities with where Watkins was in his career when the manager arrived at Villa.

Watkins had enjoyed some good seasons and was already an established Premier League centre-forward, but he became a much more prolific and complete player under Emery. Jackson is at a comparable stage of his career, and the prospect of this manager working with somebody who possesses his physical and technical attributes is incredibly exciting.

I think Jackson needed a bit of love, and perhaps that was one of the missing ingredients for him previously. He needed a manager who believed in him, a football club where he felt wanted and an environment where he knew he was going to be given opportunities to play regularly.

Emery clearly identified him as somebody he wanted to work with again, maintained that relationship and has now given him the confidence and responsibility to lead the line for Aston Villa. You can see the belief in Jackson's performances, particularly in the way he is striking the ball and taking responsibility in front of goal.

I was convinced he would be a good signing when Villa brought him in, but I am becoming increasingly confident that he could prove to be an absolutely brilliant one.

There will be difficult periods, as there are for every centre-forward, and I don't expect him to maintain this level of efficiency throughout an entire season. However, given the chances Villa should create and the attributes Jackson possesses, I think he should be looking at scoring somewhere between 15 and 20 goals, all being well, maybe even more.

I also wonder whether there are clubs looking at what he is doing now and regretting not taking an opportunity to sign him, because the raw materials have clearly been there for some time.

Perhaps the most encouraging thing is that we are still at the beginning of his relationship with Emery, and there should be plenty of room for him to improve as he becomes more familiar with the demands of playing in this team.

I was genuinely worried about how Villa would replace Watkins, just as I had concerns about replacing Emi Martínez in goal, but the early performances of Jackson and Zion Suzuki are making me wonder whether we have managed to come through those departures in a much stronger position than I initially expected.

That would be an extraordinary achievement given the quality of the players who left, and while I wouldn't make definitive judgements after the opening weeks of a season, I think we can be incredibly encouraged by what we've seen.

Jackson was my man of the match against Fenerbahçe, and it wasn't simply because he scored twice. It was the complete centre-forward performance, the confidence he showed and the different ways he contributed to an attacking display that Fenerbahçe couldn't cope with.

I am absolutely loving watching him play for Aston Villa, and the thought of what he could become under Emery makes me even more excited about the future.