DThere is no title of true top scorer, but that didn’t stop Leipzig’s head of sport Max Eberl from awarding it. His choice fell, of course, on Christopher Nkunku, the Leipzig attacker who, together with Werder Bremen’s Niclas Füllkrug, had scored the most goals in the past season.
But goals are not just goals, Eberl thought. Especially not if, like Nkunku, you only needed 25 games for 16. Due to two long injury breaks, the Frenchman missed nine matches in the Bundesliga. “Accordingly, for me he’s actually more of the top scorer of the season,” said Eberl, not mentioning that Füllkrug had had to pass six times.
Anyway, his message got through and hardly anyone who has watched Nkunku in recent years can dispute its content. The 25-year-old striker is one of the best in his field or, as Eberl sums it up: “He’s a great player.” This is now known at all the major football locations on the continent. For example in London, at Chelsea.
A painful departure
Nkunku will move there for the new season. What is still missing is official confirmation. Not without reason, RB would like to wait with the announcement, nothing should affect the preparation for the cup final on Saturday (8 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the DFB Cup and on ZDF, as well as on Sky) against Eintracht Frankfurt. RB definitely wants to win a title, last year’s cup victory raised claims. That’s why there were no official farewells last Saturday before the game against Schalke. In addition to Nkunku, Abdou Diallo or Konrad Laimer would have been possible. All of them will no longer be there for the next round, for a variety of reasons.
In addition to the departure of Laimer (to FC Bayern), the loss of the top scorer Nkunku should hurt the most. There was an outlook not too long ago: when the striker was missing recently in spring, RB lost two out of four games in the league and scored only four goals. Hardly back, Nkunku could be counted on again. With important goals like against Hoffenheim (1:0) or in Munich (3:1) he helped Leipzig to secure the renewed qualification for the Champions League. “He already played outstandingly last year, now he has become the top scorer. That is simply an expression of the outstanding development he has made here in Leipzig,” says Eberl.
For that matter, Nkunku is a best possible explanatory example for the RB model. He came four years ago from Paris St. Germain. There he had gone through the youth academy, but never found his place as a young player in the ensemble of the professional team, which was peppered with world stars. More than sporadic missions were not possible.
To get playing time, he chose Leipzig and the Bundesliga. RB paid a transfer fee of around 13 million euros at the time. After some initial difficulties, he soon developed into one of the most conspicuous players in Germany. And that under not always easy conditions. During this time he experienced four coaches in Leipzig (Nagelsmann, Marsch, Tedesco, Rose).
Not introverted
Each had their own take on where they felt Nkunku was most effective. Sometimes he played in midfield, sometimes he came from the outside, sometimes he found himself in the center of attack. It didn’t negatively affect his performance. After the 2021/2022 season, he was voted Germany’s footballer of the year. Nkunku was happy about that, as he is usually happy. Quietly, inside. Which is less because of his character and more because of the language barrier. He rarely gives interviews, he has only moderately made friends with the German language.
He is by no means an introvert. As of this season, he likes to pull out a red balloon after hits, tilt his head back, and inflate the balloon with his arms outstretched. His little son at home would like them so much. The greeting from the stadium is for him, Nkunku once explained. What makes the junior at home happy also makes consultant hearts beat faster.
Christopher Nkunku doesn’t appear introverted.
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Image: Imago
The red balloon and Nkunku now belong together. That’s called signature cheer today. Every aspiring size that is self-respecting has one of these. Soccer isn’t just about goals, it’s also about recognizing yourself. Not only does he now have it, his market value has also increased significantly. Chelsea will probably transfer between 60 and 80 million euros to Leipzig as a transfer fee alone. A whopping win for RB.
You want and have to spend parts of it on a successor. When it comes to hiring accurate attackers, Leipzig has not always been right in recent years. Of Nkunku’s imminent departure, Eberl says: “If that’s the case, we’re not afraid that we’ll find a new player, but such extraordinary skills are not on the street.” The name of Jonathan David, 23, from OSC Lille is whispered . At the World Championships in Qatar, he competed with Canada. At the tournament in the desert state, Nkunku had to watch injured because of a training accident. That didn’t harm his steep ascent.
