One year on from his £52m move from RB Leipzig, it is safe to say that Christopher Nkunku is yet to hit the ground running at Stamford Bridge following multiple injury problems throughout his first season in West London.
However, despite being limited to just 14 appearances under former boss Mauricio Pochettino, the Frenchman was still able to show the Chelsea faithful glimpses of what he can offer to the Blues frontline.
With a new season on the horizon and a new manager at the helm in Enzo Maresca, can the Italian help get Nkunku firing on all cylinders and ensure his injury struggles are a thing of the past? Only time will tell.
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Nkunku's Chelsea Journey So Far
Following a dismal 2022/23 season, the Blues were very busy in the summer transfer window. Following the departures of multiple first team players such as Kai Havertz and Christian Pulisic, many new faces were brought in with Nkunku being one of them.
As the club headed across the Atlantic for their pre-season tour of America, the forward was eager to impress Pochettino and wasted no time in doing so. The France international scored the fourth goal in a 5-0 victory over Wrexham before netting against Brighton and Fulham in the Premier League Summer Series.
Having struggled for goals in the previous season, the goals were flowing for the Blues in pre-season which was certainly a sign of good things to come for Nkunku along with fellow new signing Nicolas Jackson.
However, for Nkunku, that all came crashing back down to earth in the final game of the pre-season tour after sustaining a knee injury that would see him ruled out for an extended period of time.
The forward would have to wait until the 19th December to make his competitive debut in a Chelsea shirt, which came in the Carabao Cup quarter-final tie against Newcastle. Nkunku played his part, scoring from 12-yards in the penalty shootout as the Blues progressed to the next round.
Five days later, the Frenchman came off the bench for his Premier League debut against Wolves and made the instant impact by finding the back of the net. However, the goal was to no avail as Chelsea fell to a 2-1 defeat.
Nkunku's second goal came a month later in a 4-1 loss to Liverpool at Anfield before a hamstring injury at the start of March would see him miss a further two months of action.
Despite that, the forward returned in May and made substitute appearances in Chelsea's final four matches of the season. Nkunku found himself on the scoresheet in the penultimate game against Brighton, which proved to be the winning goal in a 2-1 victory at the AMEX.
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How Nkunku could fit into the Chelsea attack
Nkunku can be utilised in multiple areas of the frontline: on the left-wing, as an attacking midfielder or even as a striker. Last season, Chelsea's success was mainly down to the brilliance of a certain Cole Palmer occupying the number 10 role.
However, during his time at RB Leipzig, Nkunku mainly featured as a second striker, creating scoring opportunities for the centre-forward. The Frenchman netted 15 goals and provided seven assists when deployed in that position in the 2022/23 season.
In order to allow Nkunku to play in that position at Chelsea, this would force Palmer to play out wide, potentially as a right-winger. There is no question that Palmer's best position is as a number ten but the England international is just as good on the wing.
With the creativity of Palmer on the right and Nkunku playing the number ten role or a second striker, this can certainly help create chances for striker Nicolas Jackson.
However, despite a promising first season in English football, Jackson was very much hit-and-miss and struggled in front of goal at times. The forward's blistering pace is certainly a positive aspect to his game so we may potentially see him play on the left-hand side of attack.
Chelsea have been heavily linked with multiple strikers heading into the new season so we are yet to know who will be leading the line for the Blues when the 19th August comes around.
But, if no new striker is brought in, then that person could well end up being Nkunku due to his strong goalscoring threat. The forward could play as a false-nine, similarly to how Thomas Tuchel utilised Kai Havertz when the Blues won the Champions League three years ago.
With Chelsea likely to be competing in the UEFA Conference League and providing Nkunku stays fit, the Frenchman will leave Enzo Maresca weighing up his options on both the domestic and European front.
