After an injury-torn first season in England for the 26-year old Frenchman signed from Leipzig for a fee in the region of €56 million, Christopher Nkunku is finally becoming the talisman many predicted him to be after he signed for the West London outfit.
A global star due to his starring performances for the French national team and in Germany where he made his name playing for RB Leipzig, ‘Christo’ as he’s fondly called seems to be on the path of taking early strides towards making history at Stamford Bridge.
Last night against the Mexican outfit CF Amèrica, Nkunku seemed the sharpest he has been since signing for the Blues and considering it’s the first time he’s had 3 consecutive starts since joining.
It did not come as a surprise that he created two chances, won the most fouls and duels with three and five respectively whilst also successfully completing two out of three dribbles and netting another penalty.
Despite only being a pre-season affair, it is worthy to mention that CF Amèrica are in the middle of a competitive league (played four games in the Mexican league) and that meant they were in a better shape physically than Enzo Maresca’s men.
Scoring in three consecutive games is certain to have raised Christo’s confidence.
If he is able to steer clear of the injury woes that befell him last season, the Frenchman would definitely lit up the premier league with his intricate touches and close dribbling, which are reminiscent of Eden Hazard.
Christo is the ultimate Swiss Army knife for Maresca, with the coach suggesting after the game that he can play anywhere.
Speaking to Ben Jacobs of GiveMeSport, Enzo Maresca said: “I knew Nkunku before I joined and I love him. He can play in the pocket, as a nine and winger. He’s a very good fit for this system.”
He is currently playing as one of the “advanced eights” in Maresca’s on ball 3-2-5 setup, and the performance last night both on the ball and off the ball shows great learning in such a short time frame.
A top performance from Maresca’s team and the challenge only gets harder after this as up next for Chelsea are the reigning premier league champions, Manchester City on Saturday.
