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Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali may not have appeared on the Chelsea statement confirming the signing of Christopher Nkunku, but the feeling inside Stamford Bridge is that were it not for the early move from the co-controlling owners, the attacker could have ended up elsewhere this summer.
Manchester United, Arsenal, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich are all looking to add to their forward lines, and given a 12th-placed Premier League finish and failure to qualify for Europe, Chelsea would find it tough to push their way to the top of that list right now.
With Tottenham and Napoli demanding £100 million-plus for Harry Kane and Victor Osimhen respectively, Chelsea themselves valuing Kai Havertz at £70 million with two years remaining on his contract and Atalanta even talking of Rasmus Hojlund being worth £86 million, a little over £52 million for Nkunku looks like a potential snip.
The France international is not an out-and-out No 9 and Chelsea know all too well that signings from the Bundesliga come with no guarantees, but Nkunku’s 58 goals for RB Leipzig over the past two seasons would have made him one of the hottest properties on the market.
There have been many legitimate questions asked over the level of involvement of Boehly and Eghbali in football matters during their first year or so in charge, but it is hard to find fault with agreeing to beat the rush on 25-year-old Nkunku.
So long has this deal been in the pipeline that Nkunku took his first Chelsea medical test last August, when Thomas Tuchel was head coach, agreed the move after Graham Potter had succeeded the German and will finally play for the Blues under Mauricio Pochettino next season.
Chelsea believe they have landed three players in one
That in many ways encapsulates the chaos of the first season of the Boehly-Eghbali era and, given the number of head coaches who have passed through Stamford Bridge during negotiations, there is no argument that Nkunku is what Chelsea’s former head coach Antonio Conte may describe as “a club signing”.
The delight at securing Nkunku runs through Chelsea, with officials believing they have effectively landed three players in one in Nkunku, who has proved himself capable of playing as a No 9, a No 10 or off the left, and Pochettino’s favoured 4-2-3-1 system, which can at times be a 4-3-3, should suit him perfectly.
With Nicolas Jackson looking likely to arrive from Villarreal and Mykhailo Mudryk, Raheem Sterling, Noni Madueke, who impressed at the end of last season, Armando Broja returning from injury and Nkunku at his disposal, Pochettino will have at least six good options to fill either three or four attacking spots.
Romelu Lukaku’s future still remains undecided with Inter Milan putting pressure on the Belgian to manoeuvre his way back to Italy, but, on paper at least, Chelsea’s attack and different combinations suddenly looks much stronger.
Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley, Chelsea’s co-sporting directors, said: “Christopher has proved himself one of the stand-out attacking players in European football over the past two seasons and will add quality, creativity and versatility to our squad.
“He has demonstrated his ability at the highest level with RB Leipzig and France, and we look forward to him joining up with his new team-mates ahead of the new season.”
