Christopher Nkunku
- Thread starter Berbaclass
- Start date
He's a good player but the injury record would be a massive concern obviously. If it's a reasonable loan fee just to tide us over to the summer when we can properly assess then I wouldn't mind.
Better player so yes, more potential upside if a loan with low cost. I would also want another player to come in with the Garnacho money though.
Like the idea of him for depth in the squad till the summer.
I’d take him, there’s real talent there
Yeah, the age is the thing that bothers me most. I think he's the top end of what Utd should be looking at right now. Especially given the injuries. I'd pass personally.
Not really disagreeing, but basically the same age as Gyokeres, right?
We've got Kukonki so need Nkunku as well
Ah yes another Chelsea #10 who has been mostly injured for the previous year, what could go wrong...
There is literally no point signing yet another player who’s injury prone. It would really grate on me given the fact we’ve recently signed a complete crock from the same club.
Nkunku was a great player in Germany but he’s not really done it yet over here, partly through injury but also hasn’t set the world alight when fit.
Agreed that we’d need more than just one player. But I doubt we do more than that business. Given how close we are to the end of the window.
You could get away with signing a player like this if you successfully manage his workload but if you're fully relying on him to be consistently in the match day eleven then Goodluck.
He's played 600 minutes less than Garnacho this season. It would also be fine if it was a short term loan.
No thanks, maybe you take him on a loan if it’s short term and only a percentage of his wages. We shouldn’t be helping to line Chelsea’s pockets again.
Does Gyokeres come with the injury concerns? And in terms of productivity he's probably the best out there that might be gettable.
But to be honest given what he'd probably cost I'm not really in love with the idea anyway. Given the amount of work the squad actually needs, spending as much as it would cost to get him would slow a rebuild down. As much as I would love a prolific striker, maybe for the time being it needs to be working towards goals in the aggregate instead of trying to brute force it through one player.
I'm glad I'm not the one making these decisions, because I can't see any easy fixes that won't have some other effect.
It just seems counter intuitive to me. We’re apparently building a squad capable of winning major honours and we’re going to achieve it by getting rid of high potential and replace with short term unreliability?
It’s a stupid move. If we are in the business of selling a first team player to Chelsea it should be for someone who is a first team player of similar ability in this league.
I know you clearly don’t rate Garnacho, but he his better than you’ve constantly given him credit for throughout this thread.
I’d like this on loan. Would suit the system
60m for garnacho + Nkunku on loan I would take
Shaw is better than most of the league. Availability is what we need more than anything. Injury prone players is what we need to get away from..
His biggest problem outside the injury he suffered in preseason 2023 is basically fit. He's an odd fit for a team that only plays with 1 up front. He's not really a great 10, we have Palmer and Felix covering that position anyway, and he's been awful every time he's been used at LW, so the only position he's looked good in has been up front but Jackson has been better and fits better with the system.
When we signed him I think Poch would have tried to build the attack around him, he was our big marquee signing that summer, but he missed 90% of the season and by the time he was ready to return, the team had moved on in his absence and Poch had one foot out of the door.
He wouldn't be a bad signing for another club, but he would be a risky one.
I'd rather just keep Nkunku thanks.
Looks like we have a good relationship with Chelsea these days.
There is a beautiful symmetry to this transfer. Feels like both sets of fans will be disappointed.
Nkunku is a wonderful player but he's been unlucky.
Last season when he first joined he would have had a massive role under Poch had he not been injured, and now that he's finally been back to full fitness (no injuries so far this season) it just so happens Maresca wants to play Palmer as the number 10 instead of RW like last season. So that's basically Nkunku fecked because there aren't many players out there that would find it easy to displace Palmer from the side and the lone striker position doesn't suit him best either.
Though I have to say I would have liked to see Palmer at RW and Nkunku playing behind Jackson at some point this season. Despite being decent players otherwise, our RW options Neto/Madueke have both been quite underwhelming when it comes to actually scoring goals so I could easily see moving Palmer out wide and having another proven goal threat like Nkunku in the side working out but Maresca's been too stubborn to try it.
Last season when he first joined he would have had a massive role under Poch had he not been injured, and now that he's finally been back to full fitness (no injuries so far this season) it just so happens Maresca wants to play Palmer as the number 10 instead of RW like last season. So that's basically Nkunku fecked because there aren't many players out there that would find it easy to displace Palmer from the side and the lone striker position doesn't suit him best either.
Though I have to say I would have liked to see Palmer at RW and Nkunku playing behind Jackson at some point this season. Despite being decent players otherwise, our RW options Neto/Madueke have both been quite underwhelming when it comes to actually scoring goals so I could easily see moving Palmer out wide and having another proven goal threat like Nkunku in the side working out but Maresca's been too stubborn to try it.
Have doubts that Leipzig player still in there
Doesn't really sound like he fits our current system either, would just be another body. A more experienced one though, I suppose
Helps having a Chelsea fan as owner.
Chelsea have the 3rd most goals in the league. Not the end of the world that he doesnt get a look in for league matches as we have joint 6th worst scoring record equal to West Ham with 27 goals in 22 matches
If we're sure about his injuries clearing up then I'd take him for sure
If we're sure about his injuries clearing up then I'd take him for sure
He'd instantly be our best attacker. Comfortably
He'd probably be Chelsea's as well if he could stay fit.
This would be my main concern. If they can arrange a loan that helps us out this season and potentially helps Chelsea get a good deal for him in the summer then might be worth a punt. Certainly don't think we should be dropping €50m though. Even if he turns out to be good enough to justify that price, it's too big a risk
Like so many other talents that have done well in Germany, he is not talented enough to make up for his physique. Same bracket as Werner and Sancho (but less talented!) and a few others.
Amad and Nkunku as number 10s would suit Amorim to a tee.
I agree, for most sides he is not an option positionally. For Amorim he would actually fit, but I just don’t really want him. If Amorim doesn’t last we’ll be stuck with him alongside Mount who has similar positional issues.
He will flop hard here.
He's been injury free for nine months straight.
Not categorically against Nkunku, but £70M is a joke
Yep, another insane fee being quoted.
Chelsea signed him for £52m and he's flopped. I'd value him closer to £30m now, and certainly wouldn't pay more than £40m.
all of our deals are going to be toss aren't they
this is just chelsea and utd banking some PSR credit isn’t it