Christopher Nkunku to Chelsea | Confirmed

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JPRouve said:
It's an interesting description when he has been playing deeper than Bruno and registered more assists. How would you describe being a playmaker with Bruno as a reference?
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He has historically but not now remember Bruno has also played as an 8 too.

What I meant by the comment is Bruno is a very risky creator. More than happy to waste 5 balls to get the 1 assist so I don’t consider Nkunku a playmaker like Bruno.

Nkunku absolutely does play make but not with the same style as Bruno. For example I would call Foden a playmaker but id say he’s nothing like Bruno.

The types of movement, the passes attempted and received and general play of Nkunku is not like that of Bruno hence he’s not that kind of playmaker. Nkunku is much more forward and receiving possession higher up the pitch 97th percentile for progressive passes received and 94th percentile for penalty box touches. Bruno is 64th for progressive received and 46th for penalty box touches. His profile is much more like Salah, Mane or Sterling than it is Bruno.
 
BenitoSTARR said:
He has historically but not now remember Bruno has also played as an 8 too.

What I meant by the comment is Bruno is a very risky creator. More than happy to waste 5 balls to get the 1 assist so I don’t consider Nkunku a playmaker like Bruno.

Nkunku absolutely does play make but not with the same style as Bruno. For example I would call Foden a playmaker but id say he’s nothing like Bruno.

The types of movement, the passes attempted and received and general play of Nkunku is not like that of Bruno hence he’s not that kind of playmaker. Nkunku is much more forward and receiving possession higher up the pitch 97th percentile for progressive passes received and 94th percentile for penalty box touches. Bruno is 64th for progressive received and 46th for penalty box touches. His profile is much more like Salah, Mane or Sterling than it is Bruno.
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I only asked because you described Bruno as a playmaker unlike Nkunku, I was surprised by that but you seemingly consider that both are playmakers which makes more sense to me. Now they are indeed different.
 
JPRouve said:
I only asked because you described Bruno as a playmaker unlike Nkunku, I was surprised by that but you seemingly consider that both are playmakers which makes more sense to me. Now they are indeed different.
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I said I wouldn’t call him a playmaker in the Bruno sense to clarify that meant he doesn’t create chances the same way Bruno does. I agree I could have phrased it better by saying “Nkunku is also an excellent playmaker but his creative style is not like Bruno’s”. He’s closer to a Sancho than a Bruno within our squad in terms of the positions he creates from.
 
BenitoSTARR said:
I said I wouldn’t call him a playmaker in the Bruno sense to clarify that meant he doesn’t create chances the same way Bruno does. I agree I could have phrased it better by saying “Nkunku is also an excellent playmaker but his creative style is not like Bruno’s”. He’s closer to a Sancho than a Bruno within our squad in terms of the positions he creates from.
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No problem, your answer to my question was clear.:)
 
JPRouve said:
I only asked because you described Bruno as a playmaker unlike Nkunku, I was surprised by that but you seemingly consider that both are playmakers which makes more sense to me. Now they are indeed different.
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Bruno is an on-ball playmaker. Nkunku is an off-ball playmaker
 
Skillful but seems slow atleast by my 20 minute deep youtube research. Also his stats are not that amazing compared to Werner last season, and we have seen how that signing has gone for Chelsea.
 
Wow, great, another player putting up great numbers in the Bundesliga that will be shite in the Premier League.
 
I reckon he’d be a quality signing, he can obviously press, which is why ralf rangnick suggested him. If we get the right players in with the right work ethic we should be alright next season.
 
Personally I’m very sceptical about the Bundesliga, I think the defending there is absolutely atrocious. Having said that if Ten Hag comes in and fancies talking a gamble on him I’ll back it and be excited.
 
I really, really rate Nkunku but I don't think he would be suited to play for you as a striker.
His best positions (2nd striker/10 or left winger that tends to shift to to center) are occupied by Bruno and Sancho.
 
If you want to spend that much money on yet another Bundesliga player you should definitely go for Bellingham. He's what your team needs in the center of the pitch and he has the mentality and will your whole club seem to have lost.
 
BayernFan87 said:
If you want to spend that much money on yet another Bundesliga player you should definitely go for Bellingham. He's what your team needs in the center of the pitch and he has the mentality and will your whole club seem to have lost.
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Bellingham isn't going anywhere for less than 100 mill+.
 
BayernFan87 said:
His best positions (2nd striker/10 or left winger that tends to shift to to center) are occupied by Bruno and Sancho.
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Played quite a few games as an AM this season on the right side in a 3421 with great success. In that position, he looks quite similar to a type of player we lack (Salah/Mane-mould).
 
andersj said:
Played quite a few games as an AM this season on the right side in a 3421 with great success. In that position, he looks quite similar to a type of player we lack (Salah/Mane-mould).
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As a winger he's certainly more a Sancho than a Salah, his dribbling skills and speed are okay, but he's not the best in 1 vs. 1 situations.
 
ManRed said:
Skillful but seems slow atleast by my 20 minute deep youtube research. Also his stats are not that amazing compared to Werner last season, and we have seen how that signing has gone for Chelsea.
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Look at all his underlying stats not just goals and assists.
https://fbref.com/en/players/7c56da38/Christopher-Nkunku

World class progressive receiver (we lack those in our side someone who regularly finds space to receive passes high up the pitch).

World class scorer and assister.

World class for final third pressures.

Suggests a goalscoring and goal creating player who finds himself regularly in attacking areas who can press really well.

How he’d cope with the additional physical demands of PL football is up for debate but beyond that he looks exactly the kind of player modern football requires.
 
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He's playing now against Atalanta and just scored another goal.
 
Another game, another goal...he's just been spectacularly productive this season.
 
Mainoldo said:
What does that mean? You saying he’s a Lingard.
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It means one guy creates for his teammates through his passing, the other through his off ball movement. Nkunku doesn't really make the kind of passes that you'd associate with a playmaker. Most are simple, square passes to an open teammate in front of goal. It also meanz that his ability as a playmaker is heavily reliant on his teammates finding him in dangerous areas and situations. More creative teammates like Bruno, for example

And yes, Lingard - or Van de Beek - is actually a pretty good comparison in terms of player type. He's just way better.
 
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BayernFan87 said:
I really, really rate Nkunku but I don't think he would be suited to play for you as a striker.
His best positions (2nd striker/10 or left winger that tends to shift to to center) are occupied by Bruno and Sancho.
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I think this is pretty obvious (and what all the Bundesliga viewers have said in this thread really) but for some reason our fans seem to think he’ll be anywhere near the player playing out of position. Because he played CM once, or “he can play out on the right”…
 
giorno said:
It means one guy creates for his teammates through his passing, the other through his off ball movement. Nkunku doesn't really make the kind of passes that you'd associate with a playmaker. Most are simple, square passes to an open teammate in front of goal. It also meanz that his ability as a playmaker is heavily reliant on his teammates finding him in dangerous areas and situations. More creative teammates like Bruno, for example

And yes, Lingard is actually a pretty good comparison in terms of player type. He's just way better
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As a comparison I was thinking about the previous version of Muller?
 
JPRouve said:
As a comparison I was thinking about the previous version of Muller?
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That too. Not as good a playmaker as Muller, but i don't Muller ever scored this much either
 
Would be all in on this if he was left footed and a RW who can play elsewhere. As it is, he's a LW that can play elsewhere, mainly plays as a false 9 or #10 in a pure counter attacking Bundesliga side with way more space. I'd pump the brakes. He's an excellent prospect, but we literally have Sancho/Rashford on the left and Bruno #10. Sancho can play on the right, some systems he is better there. But as of now, he's the LW I guess. I'd prefer Antony just because we need that profile of player more. And Nkunku up top for United would be very different than for Leipzig, don't think it'd work.
 
DWelbz19 said:
I think this is pretty obvious (and what all the Bundesliga viewers have said in this thread really) but for some reason our fans seem to think he’ll be anywhere near the player playing out of position. Because he played CM once, or “he can play out on the right”…
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Sancho flashbacks... :nervous:
 
bosnian_red said:
Would be all in on this if he was left footed and a RW who can play elsewhere. As it is, he's a LW that can play elsewhere, mainly plays as a false 9 or #10 in a pure counter attacking Bundesliga side with way more space. I'd pump the brakes. He's an excellent prospect, but we literally have Sancho/Rashford on the left and Bruno #10. Sancho can play on the right, some systems he is better there. But as of now, he's the LW I guess. I'd prefer Antony just because we need that profile of player more. And Nkunku up top for United would be very different than for Leipzig, don't think it'd work.
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If we’re set on Sancho being the LW then we can’t really go for the Antony/Raphinha type on the opposite flank. Sancho isn’t really someone who relentlessly runs in behind the defence so it’d be a bit pointless having two ball to feet players on the wings, we’d massively lack penetration. If it’s Sancho left we need to be targeting a goalscorer on the other side.
 
Tavern in the town said:
If we’re set on Sancho being the LW then we can’t really go for the Antony/Raphinha type on the opposite flank. Sancho isn’t really someone who relentlessly runs in behind the defence so it’d be a bit pointless having two ball to feet players on the wings, we’d massively lack penetration. If it’s Sancho left we need to be targeting a goalscorer on the other side.
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I agree, Antony from the little I've seen does offer a lot of that though! For Ajax ETH has Tadic on the opposite flank to Antony, so I'd say Sancho would suit playing opposite to Antony who from what I've seen is a good blend as both a scorer/off the ball runner and good on the ball. Also really depends with what we do through the middle (like if we get Darwin Nunez then it's fine as he's basically a poacher).
 
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