After failing to make into the starting eleven at Chelsea so far this season, Christopher Nkunku is set to force himself our next summer.
Chelsea signed the French winger for a whopping fee of €52 m from Leipzig in the summer of 2023. Despite the big move and all the expectations his time at Chelsea has been marred with injuries. The huge fee, filled with huge expectations from the fans as he was on the back of an excellent season in the Bundesliga.
Nkunku who naturally loves to play as a winger has scored plenty of goals in his time with Leipzig. Unfortunately, after the big move he suffered a severe knee injury in the pre-season and missed the majority of his debut season. Not the start anyone would have wanted. He had to wait until December to make his debut in the Blue of Chelsea.
Coming on to this season with huge expectations and a perfectly fit body, everyone expected Nkunku to be the first name on the team sheet. However it hasn’t gone as he had planned. Nkunku is still lingering between starting on the bench and featuring in cup matches for Chelsea.
NOT IN ENZO MARESCA’S PLANS?
As we said earlier the only games Nkunku started are the opening Premier League match against City and the cup matches. Maresca usually goes with a revised lineup for the UEFA Conference League and Carabao Cup matches. But Nkunku makes the most of his opportunity as he scored every time he has started in cup competitions. Two against Servette, One against Gent and a hat-trick against Barrow, those are impressive.
We think that Nkunku doesn’t fit the profile of wingers that fits Maresca’s style of play. Look at all other wingers he has bought in, Pedro Neto, Jadon Sancho and Noni Madueke. All are pacey wingers who like to play fast pace football, drive through the wings and cross the ball or strike it to the back of the net. That is the sort of profile he wants. On the other hand Nkunku is more like a Raheem sterling player who likes to cut in and dribble. Maresca mostly uses Nkunku as a Centre forward, just as a deputy for Nicolas Jackson. The fact that the current set up and the players he is using is simply working well. So why would he change that?
Every Manager would love to go into matches with unchanged lineups. But with a packed fixture list up ahead it is obvious that at some point Maresca would rotate the squad. Injuries might also lead the manager to make changes.
COULD NKUNKU LEAVE CHELSEA?
Yes it is of course a possibility. According to reports from ESPN it is said that, If the French super star is convinced that he has no position with the team he could choose to leave. Anyway it wouldn’t be in the winter most probably he might wait until the next summer to make the decision. There is a long way to go this season and changes can happen in football so quickly. As Jose Mourinho once said “The beautiful thing about football is that it’s unpredictable. Anything can happen, and it can happen quickly.” Yes that’s it, an injury, a dismissal or a change in tactics can turn the fortunes around for Nkunku. The positive side about Christopher Nkunku is that he has shown his potential whenever he had the chance. The winner against Bournemouth, Nkunku’s performance against Gent are all examples of taking the chances.
The fact that Jadon Sancho has hit the ground running at Stamford Bridge made it tough for Nkunku. The task ahead of Nkunku is to wait patiently and shine when given his opportunities. The Frenchman recently scored his first International goal against Israel in the Nations League.
He is undoubtedly one of the players who returns from the International break with good spirits. It is certain that Nkunku will have some part to play against Liverpool on Sunday. However it is still uncertain that he would start the match.
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