Chelsea set £65m asking price for Christopher Nkunku — report
Yesterday at 12:01 PM
Breaking a bit better than even
Chelsea seem prepared to sanction the departure of Christopher Nkunku, one of the more senior yet not exactly first-choice members of the squad, but of course only if Bayern Munich meet our asking price ... and if we can secure a replacement for him.
According to the Telegraph, that asking price is a fairly serious £65m, or slightly more than what we gave RB Leipzig in 2023, around €60m. Bayern are expected to try to negotiate that down, at which point our supposed interest in Bayern's young forward Mathys Tel might truly come into play — whom of course they don't want to lose.
Chelsea value Christopher Nkunku at around £65m as Bayern Munich try to sign the forward. More to follow at @TeleFootball#cfc
— Matt Law (@Matt_Law_DT) January 14, 2025
Tel is also said to be wanting to stay, but is also said to be wanting to play, which he hasn't been doing as much this season as last. In an interesting twist of footballing fates, it might actually be Chelsea who are better suited to give teenagers serious playing time these days (unless those teenagers hail from Cobham of course; natch).
Either way, the report claims that we are "adamant" that a replacement will have to be found for Nkunku, ideally someone "right-sided" (-footed?) "who can play off the left or through the middle". Sorry, João Félix, sit back down.
Bayern sporting director Christoph Freund poured some cold water over all this speculation this morning, but I'm not sure he's done much to douse the flames.
"If we continue the season like this, which is our plan, then it is not an issue and we have no plans bring in an attacking player.
"[And Tel] is a very important player for us and we are in very good contact because he's a great talent and should play an important role for us. We have had many discussions. Our clear goal is for Mathys to make his breakthrough with us.
"We are very happy with our squad when it comes to both quality and quantity. Of course, if a player is unhappy, we can talk about it. But our clear plan with Mathys is for him to make his breakthrough here."
-Christoph Freund; source: Metro
Tel made 41 appearances last season but I guess that doesn't count as a "breakthrough"? Come to London, Mathys.
