Christopher Nkunku will play in the next game.
British media “Goal.COM” reported on the 19th (Korea time), “Coach Mauricio Pochettino hinted that Christopher Nkunku could finally make his Chelsea debut in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday.”
Chelsea drew 1-1 in a pre-season friendly match against Dortmund at 9:30 a.m. on August 3rd (Korea time) at Soldier Field in Chicago. In the 20th minute of the first half, Christopher Nkunku held his knee and replaced Mykhailo Mudryk, complaining of discomfort.
Chelsea borrowed Pochettino’s interview from its official website right after the match. “The doctors are examining him and I hope it’s not a big deal. He fell when it could have been a penalty and felt something in his knee, but I hope it’s not a big deal,” he said with concern.
Nkunku is Chelsea’s biggest acquisition this season. The former RB Leipzig ace signed quickly because he had 84.5 billion buyouts and negotiated before other teams in the last transfer window.
Nkunku is the star of the Bundesliga in name and reality. After moving to Leipzig from Paris Saint-Germain in 2019, he made his debut in the Bundesliga with 42 games, five goals and 14 assists from his first season.
Nkunku’s value began in the 2021/2022 season. Coming out alternately as a second top and winger attacking midfielder, he was named the Bundesliga Player of the Year with 35 goals and 20 assists in 52 games while serving as an ace. There were rumors of a transfer with big clubs based on his performances, but he renewed his contract with Leipzig until 2026.
He continued his career in the 2022/2023 season. During the season, I heard that Nkunku was signing a contract with Chelsea. He secretly performed medical procedures and signed a contract to join Chelsea in July 2023. In the 2022/2023 season, he showed good performance, although not as much as in the previous season, and tied for the top scorer with Nicklas Fülcruk (Werder Bremen).
Having made his first debut at Chelsea this pre-season, he showed different level of performance. He showed everything in dribbling in connection with dribbling, and scored goals for three consecutive pre-season games. 랭크카지노
Since then, he has been injured and was initially expected to miss the game until December, but Pochettino said Nkunku’s recovery was earlier than scheduled and could play after the A-match break in November.
However, fans’ anxiety escalated as he could not continue to participate in matches. However, in the previous match against Sheffield, Nkunku finally recovered and was put on the bench. Although he did not participate, he raised expectations for his fans.
Now, Nkunku’s debut match has been confirmed. Pochettino said Nkunku is highly likely to make his debut against Newcastle in the quarterfinals of the Carabao Cup on Tuesday (Korea time), but urged fans not to put too much pressure on Nkunku and let him adapt to English soccer.
Speaking to reporters ahead of the match, Pochettino said, “I hope he starts tomorrow and scores three goals. But the most important thing is not to put too much pressure on him. Because he has to find himself, feel competitive, and adapt to a team that he hasn’t been in for the last four or five months.”
He continued, “This is why we need to be careful because he still hasn’t made his Premier League debut. I know how difficult the Premier League is for all the players coming from abroad. I didn’t want to take the risk with him.”
Pochettino finally said, “I can tell you he can play 20 minutes. When I saw him before the game against Sheffield United, I think there was a 1 percent, 2 percent doubt. So I didn’t want to take a risk. That’s how I explained it to him.”