Christopher Nkunku to Chelsea | Confirmed

[Ish]

You say that as if it’s certain this was leaked by Chelsea.

Yeah but the chances of it being kept under wraps for 6-12 months were remote/unrealistic. Seems like these things were always going to leak at one point or another.

 

[Withnail]

Well if someone really wants Nkunku the news of this leaking might induce a bid during the winter in excess of the release clause?

Has that ever happened? Isn't it more likely they just offer the player more money in order to get him to agree rather than pay the club more than the release clause?

Also a deal can be agreed and signed off this Summer for next year. They don't have to wait so this sounds like bollox.

 

[Red the Bear]

Last year he scored 35 goals and had 20 assists from 52 matches total, which was of course a ludicrous level of performance. This year he hasn't quite matched that rate, with 6 goals and 1 assist from 11 matches.

So hasn't quite matched where he was before but definitely still been very productive - especially as Werner is back there so he's playing a bit deeper this season.

Yeah decent numbers considering his versatility.

Would be a decent acquisition for you lot assuming he's capable of carrying his form to the prem.

 

[izec]

Well if someone really wants Nkunku the news of this leaking might induce a bid during the winter in excess of the release clause?

That makes no sense. The clause is the fixed fee. So if you want the player, you have to convince him or offer him the better package. You can offer Leipzig more, but they will agree to sell for the clause anyway. They will accept both bids basically. The player is then the one deciding.

 

[TheMagicFoolBus]

That makes no sense. The clause is the fixed fee. So if you want the player, you have to convince him or offer him the better package. You can offer Leipzig more, but they will agree to sell for the clause anyway. They will accept both bids basically. The player is then the one deciding.

The clause only comes into effect next summer; it was a feature of the extension he signed recently - hence why Leipzig might be keen to attract bids in excess of the clause this winter.

 

[TheMagicFoolBus]

Has that ever happened? Isn't it more likely they just offer the player more money in order to get him to agree rather than pay the club more than the release clause?

Also a deal can be agreed and signed off this Summer for next year. They don't have to wait so this sounds like bollox.

True that a deal can be agreed for next summer, but it isn't binding because the release clause isn't active. Reportedly this is the sticking point - Nkunku has agreed a contract with Chelsea and now it's a matter of the clubs sorting out an agreement.

 

[TheMagicFoolBus]

Would be a decent acquisition for you lot assuming he's capable of carrying his form to the prem.

Big assumption to be fair!

 

[ZolaWasMagic]

True that a deal can be agreed for next summer, but it isn't binding because the release clause isn't active. Reportedly this is the sticking point - Nkunku has agreed a contract with Chelsea and now it's a matter of the clubs sorting out an agreement.

I'd expect something formal to be confirmed re. Nkunku and us in Jan. for the 2023 summer. Don't know why Jan would be any different to now... just a hunch

 

[BlackShark_80]

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) date

 

[RedRonaldo]

Personally it’s huge disappointment, always regarded him as dream signing next summer.

 

[Vapor trail]

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) date

Ridiculous that Chelsea have a whole new ownership and have gone through so much transition in this regard yet still show more dilligence than United in future planning, competent director of football search and just seem on the ball having already been in a better position then United to begin with.

 

[Rnd898]

If it's true he's already signed a contract agreement with Chelsea, that puts the reports of the 'early medical' in a whole different light. What didn't look to make a lot of sense last week now just seems like actual transfer business for next season done very early.

An early transfer always carries the risk of the player getting a serious injury before actually joining but assuming everything goes as planned we'll have gotten an excellent player signed before anyone else even got to make their moves. And even if we pay a few million over the clause to close the deal now, it's still going to represent good value for Nkunku. His value estimation on Transfermarkt is currently at €80M so something like €65M would still be quite a fair value in the market these days and only a slight overpay on the release clause to guarantee getting him without being dragged into a bidding war over personal terms.

That said, I won't be getting too excited till I see an official confirmation. A lot can still go wrong after 'everything agreed' like we saw with the whole Christoph Freund sporting director debacle.

 

[WeePat]

If we're paying more than the release clause, does this mean we can sign him in January? I see no reason to pay more than what the release clause is if we're going to wait until the summer anyway.

 

[Rozay]

Have no concerns at all about Nkunku going elsewhere. Looks as certain a Bundesliga flop as anyone to me. Don’t think he’s a top top player, and would be delighted if Chelsea have decided to hang their centre forward hat on him.

 

[Bebestation]

Kind of happy this is finished. False 9 is turning a bit of an old generation.

 

[Orc]

Have no concerns at all about Nkunku going elsewhere. Looks as certain a Bundesliga flop as anyone to me. Don’t think he’s a top top player, and would be delighted if Chelsea have decided to hang their centre forward hat on him.

Kind of happy this is finished. False 9 is turning a bit of an old generation.

I don’t think he’ll be brought in with the idea of him being a center forward. We’ll have Auba for another year and just gave Broja a big new contract. So the traditional #9 spot is pretty well covered if we want to play with one. I imagine Nkunku will be deployed much like Sterling or Havertz. Constantly shifting around the attacking areas with no set position.

While it’s definitely a concern buying another expensive Bundesliga player with lots of hype behind him after Werner, I’m a bit less worried about Nkunku. Unlike Timo, he can cause chaos with his dribbling and creativity. It’s not a case of “if he doesn’t score he’s useless.”

 

[ZolaWasMagic]

Happy with that signing.

 

[Rozay]

I don’t think he’ll be brought in with the idea of him being a center forward. We’ll have Auba for another year and just gave Broja a big new contract. So the traditional #9 spot is pretty well covered if we want to play with one. I imagine Nkunku will be deployed much like Sterling or Havertz. Constantly shifting around the attacking areas with no set position.

While it’s definitely a concern buying another expensive Bundesliga player with lots of hype behind him after Werner, I’m a bit less worried about Nkunku. Unlike Timo, he can cause chaos with his dribbling and creativity. It’s not a case of “if he doesn’t score he’s useless.”

I don’t think his dribbling and creativity is standout at PL level either. I just don’t think he’s all that really. But of course, he may come and be amazing, and he puts up numbers for sure. But when I watch him, he’s doesn’t strike me as a special player. Funnily, the only time I really watched him and thought this player is class is at PSG, playing more of a midfield role too. In his young days in Paris he looked very good to me.

 

[Orc]

I don’t think his dribbling and creativity is standout at PL level either. I just don’t think he’s all that really. But of course, he may come and be amazing, and he puts up numbers for sure. But when I watch him, he’s doesn’t strike me as a special player. Funnily, the only time I really watched him and thought this player is class is at PSG, playing more of a midfield role too. In his young days in Paris he looked very good to me.

I haven’t watched him closely (only YouTube highlights, really) but I don’t know how you can look at someone who put up silly numbers of both goals and assists last season and not think he’s that good. Looks electric to me.

No guarantee he’ll do it in the PL of course, but his skill set looks like it should translate well.

 

[Judas]

Fantastic signing, can't lie massively jealous. He's not a sure thing though, but if it clicks for him he'll do very well.

 

[Rajiztar]

Another expensive bundesliga import. Hope he will come good but not excited much to be honest.

 

[Sparky Rhiwabon]

So, another striker that was available and we’ve passed on? Wonder who we're looking at instead?

 

[1905]

How is his dribbling/ball retention under pressure? Is he still creative against a low block? What position is he actually best in? We've already been burnt by Bundesliga stars with huge numbers before so you'd hope that outside of those numbers he isn't as limited a footballer as the others.

 

[kouroux]

So, another striker that was available and we’ve passed on? Wonder who we're looking at instead?

He is not a traditional striker

 

[Powderfinger]

I respect Boehly's willingness to think differently about how certain parts of the football world work and try some unusual things like buying a player a year early.

The part I'm skeptical about is his overall understanding of the game itself and how you build a team. He seems to approach football a lot like baseball. In baseball, the game is really a series of individual actions and matchups so aside from a few minor things (like having a mix of left and right handed hitters and pitchers) it just doesn't really matter what style of players you have or how they fit together. You just want the best individual players. That seems to be how he is thinking about football too. Somebody handed him a list of who they thought were the best players and he has just been trying to sign as many of them as possible. Its a very different approach to how clubs like City, Liverpool, Spurs, and Arsenal have been recruiting (and I think United is starting to go in this direction too under ETH). These other sides are all about finding players with the specific qualities to fit a particular style of play and being increasingly selective in who they sign.

Nkunku is really a second striker. He has played the 9 but that doesn't seem to get the best out of him - he has always been better playing off a bigger box striker like Silva or Poulsen. He has played on the wing but he doesn't have the burst, dribbling ability, or buildup contribution to really shine there. He's a lot like Havertz, but with less of an overall game and more goal scoring ability.

A 3-4-2-1 system like Potter's can accommodate these kinds of players as long as somebody else is at the tip of spear and you have the wingbacks to occupy the outside channels. But you can only play two of them and Chelsea already have Havertz, Mount, Gallagher, Sterling, Pulisic, and Ziyech for those two spots. They clearly plan to move some of those players on but its an odd choice to preemptively strengthen in that area.

 

[TheMagicFoolBus]

How is his dribbling/ball retention under pressure? Is he still creative against a low block? What position is he actually best in? We've already been burnt by Bundesliga stars with huge numbers before so you'd hope that outside of those numbers he isn't as limited a footballer as the others.

Better at ball retention than any of our current attackers.

 

[antk]

Better at ball retention than any of our current attackers.

Very curious about what "adjusted for PL standard" means in this graph.

 

[Rolaholic]

Must be nice wrapping up deals for players like this and Haaland early and with little fuss...

 

[TheMagicFoolBus]

Very curious about what "adjusted for PL standard" means in this graph.

Believe that that adjusts for the number of possessions per league on average to limit the impact league factors have on the per 90 data.

 

[Judas]

Must be nice wrapping up deals for players like this and Haaland early and with little fuss...

Bloody hell they've signed Haaland too?! That I didn't see coming. Fair play, strange sale from City though.

 

[Erik the Red]

So, another striker that was available and we’ve passed on? Wonder who we're looking at instead?

Gakpo

 

[Vapor trail]

I respect Boehly's willingness to think differently about how certain parts of the football world work and try some unusual things like buying a player a year early.

The part I'm skeptical about is his overall understanding of the game itself and how you build a team. He seems to approach football a lot like baseball. In baseball, the game is really a series of individual actions and matchups so aside from a few minor things (like having a mix of left and right handed hitters and pitchers) it just doesn't really matter what style of players you have or how they fit together. You just want the best individual players. That seems to be how he is thinking about football too. Somebody handed him a list of who they thought were the best players and he has just been trying to sign as many of them as possible. Its a very different approach to how clubs like City, Liverpool, Spurs, and Arsenal have been recruiting (and I think United is starting to go in this direction too under ETH). These other sides are all about finding players with the specific qualities to fit a particular style of play and being increasingly selective in who they sign.

Nkunku is really a second striker. He has played the 9 but that doesn't seem to get the best out of him - he has always been better playing off a bigger box striker like Silva or Poulsen. He has played on the wing but he doesn't have the burst, dribbling ability, or buildup contribution to really shine there. He's a lot like Havertz, but with less of an overall game and more goal scoring ability.

A 3-4-2-1 system like Potter's can accommodate these kinds of players as long as somebody else is at the tip of spear and you have the wingbacks to occupy the outside channels. But you can only play two of them and Chelsea already have Havertz, Mount, Gallagher, Sterling, Pulisic, and Ziyech for those two spots. They clearly plan to move some of those players on but its an odd choice to preemptively strengthen in that area.

That's a good breakdown. Bundesliga seems to produce lots of performers with good stats but have little substance when it comes to the eye test. Unfortunately I think Havertz and Sancho are in the same regard to this description. I've seen a small amount of Nkunku and think he's a player who will heavily depend on the system he's deployed in. Similar to Cunha not stylistically but the expectation of if they can transition success from Germany into another league. Cunha certainly hasn't but is under a pragmatic manager It will be interesting to see how Potter makes use of his talent.

 

[croadyman]

Must be nice wrapping up deals for players like this and Haaland early and with little fuss...

Easy to do when your organisation is well run but absolutely dodgy as anything

 

[GlasgowCeltic]

Not a needle mover for their attack, just another OK talent to add to the pile

 

[DannyCAFC]

If we're paying more than the release clause, does this mean we can sign him in January? I see no reason to pay more than what the release clause is if we're going to wait until the summer anyway.

To wrap the deal up early and not have to compete with several other elite clubs in the summer? It's obvious isn't it? Pretty sure Liverpool's deal for Naby Keita was a similar situation.

 

[Teja]

That's frustrating. Napoli are really hard to deal with so Osimhen is just a pipe dream. We should've been all over this one.

I guess Gakpo's still around but he's yet another unknown quantity. Much rather get a proven striker.

 

[phelans shorts]

I’ll be honest, don’t see it with this lad. He’ll be another Timo Werner for them in my opinion.

Which may be being kind, Werner looked a lot better in Germany.

 

[WeePat]

 

[El-Manos]

That's frustrating. Napoli are really hard to deal with so Osimhen is just a pipe dream. We should've been all over this one.

I guess Gakpo's still around but he's yet another unknown quantity. Much rather get a proven striker.

This guy isn’t a striker

 

[Teja]

This guy isn’t a striker

He used to not be a striker, then AFAIK he was the furthest player forward at RBL last season and now seems to have dropped into a deeper role again.