Christopher Nkunku offered Chelsea fans another glimpse of an exciting future after signing off from RB Leipzig in some style.
The French forward agreed a deal with the Blues last year that will see him arrive at Stamford Bridge in the next few weeks for a fee of £53million, providing a much-needed boost to a goal-shy attack that scored just 38 times during a dismal Premier League campaign.
Nkunku finished joint-top of the Bundesliga scoring charts this term with 16 along with Niclas Füllkrug at Werder Bremen, shaking off the disappointment of missing the mid-season World Cup in Qatar with France due to a knee strain.
And Nkunku delivered a further glimpse of what he could offer Chelsea and incoming manager Mauricio Pochettino in Saturday evening’s German Cup final, netting his 23rd goal of the season across all competitions and later assisting Dominik Szoboszlai at Berlin’s Olympiastadion as Leipzig retained the DFB-Pokal trophy with a 2-0 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt.
The 25-year-old has notched 69 times in 171 total appearances for Leipzig since joining from Paris Saint-Germain in the summer of 2019, with a healthy 55 assists.
Nkunku will be expected to provide an instant improvement to a Chelsea forward unit that floundered en route to their lowest top-flight finish since 1994 despite £600m lavished on new signings during a woeful first season under the Todd Boehly and Clearlake ownership, having recently been recalled to the senior France squad by head coach Didier Deschamps for upcoming Euro 2024 qualifiers against Gibraltar and Greece.
Pochettino has already decided not to retain the services of Atletico Madrid loanee Joao Felix for next season, while the Blues will also have to make a decision on the future of £97.5m signing Romelu Lukaku, due to return from his season-long loan spell at Inter Milan.
Pochettino has indicated a willingness to work with Lukaku, but any talks over his position will be delayed until after Inter face Manchester City in next weekend’s Champions League final in Istanbul.
A new No9 alongside Nkunku has been made a key transfer priority at Chelsea this summer, with Napoli marksman Victor Osimhen a target after winning the Serie A title but alternatives also identified with the Nigerian likely to come with a hefty £100m price tag.
A number of other attacking players could leave Stamford Bridge in the weeks ahead, with Kai Havertz reportedly attracting interest from Real Madrid. Mason Mount could join Manchester United, with the likes of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Hakim Ziyech, Christian Pulisic and Callum Hudson-Odoi all expected to move on, along with potentially all of Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Mateo Kovacic, Cesar Azpilicueta, Edouard Mendy and Marc Cucurella.
