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What does Nkunku bring to Chelsea?: Analyzing the newest Blue

By Caden Charpentier

Christopher Nkunku of RB Leipzig, who has now reportedly signed for Chelsea (Photo by Mikolaj Barbanell/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Christopher Nkunku of RB Leipzig, who has now reportedly signed for Chelsea (Photo by Mikolaj Barbanell/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images) /
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Christopher Nkunku (Photo by FRANCK FIFE/AFP via Getty Images)
Christopher Nkunku (Photo by FRANCK FIFE/AFP via Getty Images) /

Having netted 12 goals in 15 Bundesliga contests, and established himself as one of the best players in the German top flight, Christopher Nkunku was a talent CFC simply could not pass up. For about £63m, the Blues secured the signing of Nkunku from RB Leipzig with the deal beginning in June of 2023. The physical was completed in early September, and the French attacker hopes to bring new life to CFC at the top of the pitch along with the 19-year-old Fofana from FK Molde who is set to sign ahead of the closure of the January transfer window.

A few months ago Nkunku’s former coach, Sylvain Ripoll of France’s Under-21 squad gave his take on what the youngster brings on the pitch:

"“One of Christopher’s best qualities is his capacity to be technical with the ball at speed,” he said. “He has the ability to do a lot of things because of that. He can create goals and he can score them as well. He is very dynamic, he is fast over five or six meters and he is good in possession. These are very good abilities for a forward.”"

Ripoll continued to speak about the versatility of Nkunku:

"“One of the other great things about Christopher is that he can play in a number of positions in the team. He can play as a striker, he can play out wide, he can play in midfield. That is all because of his good technique.”"

Brimming with confidence, and creativity in the attack, Nkunku may be the perfect fit for Potter’s Chelsea given not only his goal-scoring capabilities, but his unselfishness, and talents to get the others around him involved. In 159 appearances for the German top-flight side, Nkunku has 64 goals, and an astounding 51 assists en route to him being named the Bundesliga Player of the Season following his stellar 2021/22 campaign. Only Bayern Munich’s Thomas Muller accumulated more assists last season than Nkunku on top of completing a shots on target percentage exactly equal to Robert Lewandowski’s around 48 percent.

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