Christopher Nkunku joins Chelsea on six-year £52m deal from RB Leipzig - 'Incredibly happy!'
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Updated 20/06/2023 at 10:05 GMT
The transfer has been talked about for what feels like a year but it has finally been officially confirmed that Premier League side Chelsea have signed France forward Christopher Nkunku from Bundesliga outfit RB Leipzig on what is a six-year deal. Nkunku is coming off a season where he missed a lot of minutes due to injury, but he still was the joint-top scorer in the Bundesliga.
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Premier League side Chelsea have confirmed the arrival of France forward Christopher Nkunku from RB Leipzig on a six-year contract until 2029.
Nkunku, 25, joined Leipzig from Paris Saint-Germain in 2019 and scored 70 goals in 172 appearances in all competitions for the German club.
This season he was the joint-top scorer in the Bundesliga with 16 goals alongside Niclas Fullkrug of Werder Bremen. Nkunku achieved this feat despite missing nine games due to injury.
The fee is reported to be £52 million, as per BBC Sport.
"I am incredibly happy to be joining Chelsea," Nkunku told the club's website.
"A big effort was made to bring me to the club and I am looking forward to meeting my new coach and teammates and showing the Chelsea supporters what I can do on the pitch.
"Having played in Ligue 1 and the Bundesliga, I now want to play in the Premier League, one of the strongest leagues in the world.
"I am very excited for this challenge and will be proud to wear the Chelsea shirt."
Chelsea have had a raft of striker signings since the departure of Diego Costa in 2017, including the likes of Romelu Lukaku, Timo Werner and Kai Havertz but they have been unable to find a regular goalscorer.
Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley, Chelsea’s co-sporting directors, added: "Christopher has proved himself one of the standout 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 teammates ahead of the new season."
Nkunku, as new boss Mauricio Pochettino's first signing, is the first major bit of business the club have done this summer but they are expected to make further additions.
Another striker, Nicolas Jackson from Villarreal, could arrive after reports that Chelsea are considering triggering his €35 million (c. £29.9m) release clause, whilst the Blues are long-term admirers of Brighton midfielder Moises Caicedo.
In terms of outgoings, Havertz is being linked to Arsenal and as many as four players may move to Saudi Arabia: N'Golo Kante, Kalidou Koulibaly, Hakim Ziyech and Edouard Mendy.
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