Chelsea’s victory over Bournemouth in September gave Christopher Nkunku the finest moment of his Blues career, but as the Cherries head to Stamford Bridge his future is in high doubt. The late winner in a 1-0 victory at the Vitality Stadium is one of 13 goals Nkunku has scored this season, enough to make him joint-top-scorer alongside Cole Palmer.
It is also, however, one of only two to come in the Premier League, highlighting the diminished role that has had the Frenchman reportedly weighing up his options since early in the campaign. Now, Bayern Munich are interested in a January move, with Chelsea having made an enquiry over teenager Mathys Tel about a separate deal that could see him head the other way. Nkunku is, unsurprisingly, thought to be keen.
For much of the first half of the season, Nkunku appeared one of the more harshly treated members of Chelsea’s ‘B’ side, routinely scoring midweek goals in the Conference League without earning the reward of a weekend start. Yet given the form of Nicolas Jackson, it was hard to crab Enzo Maresca’s choice.
More recently, though, Jackson’s output has dipped, the Senegalese having scored only once in six league games, easily his quietest period of the campaign. At an opportune moment, Nkunku has failed to apply serious pressure to Jackson’s spot, underwhelming when given a rare start in the 2-0 defeat away at Ipswich and missing a penalty at 0-0 in another against Morecambe on Saturday, albeit he eventually scored as the goals flew in in the second-half. His only league goal since that winner at Bournemouth came in a thrashing of Southampton.
