5 things Chelsea fans need to know about Christopher Nkunku

Fabrizio Romano has given the Christopher Nkunku to Chelsea transfer the "Here We Go" treatment, marking the end of a transfer saga in which the Blues were the clear favorites.

Nkunku had a 60 million euro release clause active for summer 2023, so he will head to London for the 2023/24 Premier League season. Chelsea will likely be paying more than this in order to sign the 25-year-old to a pre-contract agreement, securing the player ahead of the active release clause.

It will be money well spent. Here are five things Chelsea fans need to know about the RB Leipzig star.

The best player in the Bundesliga

Christopher Nkunku was named the Bundesliga Player of the Year for the 2021/22 season, beating out Robert Lewandowski for the honor. Though the average fan would have touted Lewandowski over the Frenchman, Bundesliga observers knew that Nkunku was the top player in the league. He was the one player you HAD to watch on any given Matchday.

That season, Nkunku scored 20 goals and 13 assists, improving from his 6 goals and 6 assists in the previous season. He went from being a creator in 2019/20 and a ball carrier in 2020/21 to being one of the leading creators AND goal-scorers in the Bundesliga as the main man up top for Leipzig.

So far in 2022/23, Nkunku is only boosting his reputation as the best player in the league. He has 12 goals in 15 appearances, morphing fully into a goal-scorer. And though he has no assists, he is still averaging nearly two key passes per game.

Nkunku is the best player in his league and one of the top 25 in Europe – if not the top 10 for the 2021/22 season. Getting him for just over 60 million euros is a serious steal for Chelsea.

He can play almost any position

So far this season, Christopher Nkunku has played every attacking position for RB Leipzig. As expected, the vast majority of his starts have been as a striker or attacking midfielder, splitting his time nearly equally as a 9 and 10 for the Bundesliga side. But he has also made a few starts on the left and right wings.

Nkunku can be deployed as a striker, 10, winger on either side, or wide midfielder on either side. He has even played right back before for Leipzig.

Chelsea have a fluid attacking side under Graham Potter, and this sort of versatility will help the Blues greatly. Nkunku can always find a place depending on the opponent, and he fits many formations. More importantly, he can overlap, switch sides, and interchange with players like Conor Gallagher, Mason Mount, and Raheem Sterling.

Nkunku helped make Timo Werner

Timo Werner has made his way back to RB Leipzig, but he first joined Chelsea before the 2020/21 season on the strength of an incredible breakout 2019/20 season.

The German international scored a stunning 28 goals and 8 assists that season, easily setting career highs. Werner has not scored more than six goals since. That season, Nkunku had 13 assists, 2.3 key passes per game, and 1.7 dribbles per game in a breakout season of his own, shining as one of the top creators in Europe.

Back in Leipzig, Werner has played well but hasn't been a true star, scoring just four goals with one assist. He has taken a backseat to Nkunku in every respect, as Nkunku has even surpassed him as a scorer, seeing as how he is capable of scoring 20 goals in a season without playing off a creator as good as Nkunku is.

Chelsea were convinced to buy Werner because of Nkunku. Now, they have the better of the two players – the one they should have signed in 2020.

An elite creator and scorer

If Nkunku can double his 12 goals in 24 this season, he will have scored 44 league goals in the past two seasons, in addition to 11 in the previous two. Nkunku has two seasons with 13 assists under his belt, along with two seasons with more than two key passes per game – as well as another with 1.9 per match.

The 25-year-old forward can truly do it all, and he is among the elite in Europe at making killer passes and finding the back of the net himself. His signature finish is the slight chip over the onrushing keeper, though he is also adept at low, driven mid-range finishes that leave keepers rooted to the spot.

Christopher Nkunku is a leader

RB Leipzig won their first trophy as a club in the 2021/22 season, securing the DFB Pokal over SC Freiburg. Nkunku was, unsurprisingly, the star of the show in that match, willing the team to a clutch victory. Though Leipzig weren't always at their best, Nkunku took it upon himself to make the difference; he wasn't going to let Leipzig come up empty-handed for a second Pokal Final in a row.

Better than that, Nkunku's incredible displays and game-winning goals throughout the 2021/22 Bundesliga season helped Leipzig secure Champions League football. Under Jesse Marsch, Leipzig were near the relegation zone and seemed set to miss out on UCL football. Nkunku did not let that happen, leading the turnaround under Domenico Tedesco.