Journalist Matt Law has claimed that nobody would say after the first ten games of the season that Christopher Nkunku should be in the team ahead of Nicolas Jackson.
Nkunku arrived at Chelsea in the summer of 2023 in a deal worth £52m from German side RB Leipzig, and a lot of excitement surrounded his move to Stamford Bridge.
Despite impressing in pre-season under Mauricio Pochettino his debut campaign was ravaged by injury and he was limited to just 14 appearances in all competitions.
Law claims nobody would say Nkunku should start ahead of Jackson
Nkunku got himself fit over the summer and by Maresca’s own admission was Chelsea’s best player in pre-season as he scored a number of goals and looked sharp.
It appeared Nkunku would be set for a big role under the Italian, but after starting the opening game of the season he hasn’t started a league game since, with Jason Cundy stating he doesn’t deserve to start in Chelsea’s best team right now.
The France international has played just 152 minutes in the league and was an unused substitute in last Sunday’s draw against Manchester United.
Some recent reports have suggested he’s unhappy with his playing time and Maresca admitted Nkunku isn’t a number nine even though he’s playing him there.
The problem Nkunku has is that Jackson is performing very well and brings more to the team than he does, whilst in his preferred central position he’s not going to play ahead of Cole Palmer.
A player of Nkunku’s quality should be getting more minutes and undoubtedly there needs to be a way to get him on the pitch more.
However, Law has had his say on Nkunku and made a point on The London Is Blue Podcast, which is hard to disagree with.
“Nobody would sit here after 10 games and argue that Nkunku should be in the starting XI instead of Jackson from what we have seen, even though Nkunku has been very prolific in the Conference League,” he said.
Nkunku has eight goals in 15 appearances in all competitions this season and is Chelsea’s top goalscorer, but he’s essentially a cup player at this point in time, although if Palmer is ruled out of Sunday’s game against Arsenal there could be a big opportunity for him.