Former Chelsea player Jason Cundy believes Christopher Nkunku is no closer to forcing his way into the club’s strongest line-up.
Nkunku arrived at Chelsea in the summer of 2023 from German side RB Leipzig in a deal worth £52m, and a lot of excitement surrounded his arrival.
Unfortunately for the France international his first season was a nightmare as he was plagued by injury issues, which limited him to just 14 appearances in all competitions.
Nkunku no closer to Chelsea’s strongest line-up
Nkunku had the summer off and was one of Chelsea’s best performers on their pre-season tour of America and it appeared he would be set for a key role under Enzo Maresca.
The 26-year-old started the opening game of the same against Manchester City, but since then hasn’t started a game in the league and has found himself playing second fiddle to Nicolas Jackson.
Nkunku is the club’s top scorer with eight goals in all competitions, but just one of those has come in the Premier League and he’s not started in the league since the opening day.
Jackson has been in brilliant form and the Senegal international has six goals and three assists from nine games, with former Blue Kalidou Koulibally claiming he could win the Ballon d’Or.
Nkunku started on Wednesday night as Chelsea crashed out of the Carabao Cup after losing 2-0 to Newcastle and it’s believed he’s not happy playing a back-up role at the club.
Former Blue Cundy feels the Frenchman is still no closer to forcing his way into Maresca’s strongest team and labelled Jackson as undroppable.
“Not right now, no. I can’t make a case for it,” he told talkSPORT.
“He’s coming into games where it’s not ideal for an attacker to come on to, what you want to see is him start a game when he’s got [Cole] Palmer behind, [Moises] Caicedo behind him, Reece James in there. Where it’s Chelsea’s best XI.
“You can’t drop Jackson right now. I feel for Nkunku, but the reality is there isn’t an opportunity for him yet. It will come. There will be a moment.”
Nkunku will likely find himself back on the bench against Manchester United on Sunday, but he will need to be ready if called upon, as he could have a vital role to play.