Most players who have been top scorers for their football clubs this season can be expected to be quite happy and full of confidence.
Chelsea striker Christopher Nkunku is the club’s top scorer with 10 goals in 17 games, ahead of Cole Palmer (7) and Nicholas Jackson (6). He has a chance to finish the 2024-25 season as the team’s most productive finisher.
But during the international break a news story appeared in a French newspaper. Team, this was later followed by Telegraph in the UK, the 27-year-old is considering his future at Stamford Bridge.
Given that Nkunku is only three months into his second season at the club, signs of discontent seem a little premature. If Chelsea reach the final of the expanded Club World Cup next summer, the season could last until mid-July. Do Chelsea have reasons to worry? This is a complex situation with a yes and no answer.
First: is there any truth to Nkunku’s harassment at the club? A source close to the player spoke on condition of anonymity. “Atlético” In defense of the relationship, the forward said that he is not very happy with how things are going now.
It is worth noting that the source insisted that Nkunku himself did not make any complaint to the club. So it’s not that the 27-year-old wants to submit a transfer request or cause problems for coach Enso Maresca.
However, you can understand why Nkunku might be upset. Nkunku, who played the most minutes for Chelsea in pre-season, has only started one Premier League match for Maresca. It was three months ago in the first game against Manchester City. But part of the reason he has featured so much in friendlies is that Palmer was given extended time off after playing for England at Euro 2024 and Jackson suffered a sprained ankle he suffered with Senegal in June from which he took some time to recover. the injury.
Nkunku scores against Noah (Ryan Pearce/Getty Images)
Nkunku was right to be optimistic about what the 2024-25 period could bring. The Frenchman’s debut season at Chelsea has been hampered by knee, hip and thigh injuries. He played only 516 minutes (not counting added time), scoring 3 goals in 14 games. He would have hoped to make an even bigger impact in 2023 after completing a transfer from RB Leipzig for more than €60m.
The transfer, which was completed in October 2022, was heralded as a major coup for Chelsea at the time, and rightly so. Nkunku scored 35 goals and provided 20 assists in 52 games for RB Leipzig in the 2021/22 season. Despite a knee injury that kept him out of the last World Cup, he managed to play 36 games in the 2022/23 season, scoring 23 goals and giving nine assists. He was clearly a talented player and showed it in his first pre-season with Chelsea (three goals) before suffering another serious knee injury in Dortmund’s final friendly against Borussia Dortmund.
After showing his fitness and scoring three goals ahead of his second season at Chelsea under new boss Maresca, Nkunku is determined to show what he can do. He told Official Site “Chelsea” in August: “For me, it is obviously my first season at Chelsea. To be honest, I don’t feel like I’ve had my first season here. It has been very difficult.
“When a player misses a season, he is very hungry. I’m very hungry. My goal this season is to play and have confidence. I know that if I am happy and confident in my body, I can show what I am capable of.
And therein lies the problem. According to Transfer Market, of Nkunku’s 688 minutes this season, only 154 have been in the Premier League and 58 of them in the first leg against Manchester City. In his nine substitute appearances, he averages less than 11 minutes per game (not including injury time), meaning he is unlikely to change a game from the bench. That included coming on with minutes remaining in Chelsea’s last game against Arsenal when the score was 1-1. You would think the home team would have a better chance of winning with him on the field longer.
Still, Maresca and Chelsea could argue that Nkunku is an unfortunate victim of players simply being in good form. If Maresca wants to use two natural full-backs in a 4-2-3-1 formation, he leaves only a couple of positions for Nkunku: as a number 10 or as a main forward. But these places are occupied by Palmer (7 goals and 5 assists in 13 games) and Jackson (6 goals and 3 assists in 12 games). Palmer is one of the best in the Premier League, while Chelsea consider Jackson one of the three best centre-forwards in England’s top division. It’s hard to rule them both out at this point.
Nkunku has struggled to get league time under Maresca (Carl Recine/Getty Images)
Nkunku’s goal in joining Chelsea ahead of other interested clubs was to play regularly and compete in the Champions League. This is the second consecutive season that Chelsea have not participated in the Champions League and the majority of their games with Maresca (six) have been in Europe’s third division, the Conference League. After Chelsea’s loss to Newcastle, along with two starts in the Carabao Cup, Nkunku Maresca sends the message that he will only be considered for lower league games.
After Nkunku scored twice against Noah in an 8-0 win earlier this month, Maresca admitted he regretted the situation: “I’m ashamed of Christo because before the season he was our best player.”
Chelsea still see Nkuku as an important member of the team and, with many games left, I think there will be plenty of opportunities for him to make his mark. For example, Saturday’s game at Leicester will involve 11 games in 38 days. Team rotation will be essential, as will the possibility of injury or drop in performance at any time, whether with Palmer or Jackson.
The club can also expect some patience from Nkunku, one of Stamford Bridge’s seven highest-paid players, as he was barely fit for the 2022-23 season, even if it was his fault.
However, there is another problem that worries Nkuku. Having missed the last World Cup, Nkunku is desperate to make France’s squad for the qualifiers. Assuming they progress, he wants to be in the 2026 tournament. French coach Didier Deschamps is a big admirer and sees him as the man to help fill the void left by the retired Antoine Griezmann.
Nkunku has won four matches in the last two international breaks, including victories against Israel and Italy. But he is aware of the competition for places and knows he will need to play regularly at club level to keep his place.
So what happens next? While it cannot be completely ruled out, a January transfer is unlikely to happen. Firstly, Chelsea does not want to sell. For them to consider changing their mind, it will probably take an extraordinary offer that exceeds what they paid you. Nkunku still has more than three years left on his contract. Neither the player nor the Club will consider the issue of rent.
Nkunku plays in France (Frank Fife/AFP via Getty Images)
Then it’s about where it could go. One of his former clubs, Paris Saint-Germain, has been in regular contact with him in France and Nkunku did not categorically deny this when asked by French TV show Telefoot in October. “I don’t know what to say about it,” he said. “PSG is still a great club. Any approach this summer? No, no, no. I’ve always said there is no focus.
That remains the case and Chelsea have not made any queries to PSG either. But PSG is a perennial Champions League contender and Nkunku is a player that Luis Enrique likes. They only managed to score three goals in four games in the group stage of the Champions League. That said, the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, doubted they would be able to buy it in January.
His name was mentioned during talks between the two clubs last summer, while Manchester United were also mentioned as a possibility. But unless money is raised from the profits, they are not expected to have the funds to make a big deal when the new year window opens. Moving to the Saudi Pro League is also not an option for Nkunku.
As things stand, the earliest Nkunku could leave would be in the summer, when Chelsea could be in the Champions League and he could have played more. It can make all talk of discomfort a thing of the past.
(Foto superior: Ed Sykes/Getty Images)
