3 Champions League teams now push for January move for £52m fringe player latest
01/06/2025 12:00 PM
The rumours about a potential departure for Christopher Nkunku continue, and nobody should be surprised.
He was being used irregularly to begin the season – now we barely see him at all. The end of the Conference League group stage combined with Enzo Maresca's decreasing use of his squad and his subs means that Nkunku's playing time has actually decreased even as the talk of unhappiness has risen.
TBR Football today add two major teams to the list of interested parties: Atletico Madrid and Bayern Munich.
They also claim that Chelsea "won't stand in his way" if he pushes to leave this month. Although they add that Nkunku is not "desperate" to leave, perhaps knowing how hard it could be to arrange a departure. But 3 Premier League starts is not a sustainable situation, and things are only going to get uglier as time passes unless Maresca works out a way to fit him in.
January deal hard to organise at price Chelsea can accept
Chelsea may not "stand in Nkunku's way" if he wants to leave, but that doesn't mean they'll accept any old offer for the attacker they paid £52m for. If a suitable offer comes in, it makes sense to sell him, even this month. But it seems very unlikely that either Bayern or Atletico – or anyone, in fact, makes an offer which we would consider in January.
PSG were linked before, and while they seem the most tempting option, they would surely need to sell off some of their unwanted attackers before moving for Nkunku.
To us, it looks like he's just going to have to grin and bear it until the summer, when more options might open up and Chelsea will be able to take stock of the whole squad.
