Due to the situation, the club is in right now, Ralf Rangnick condemned Christopher Nkunku’s decision to join Chelsea and is not sure Julian Nagelsmann should do the same.
The West London club apparently reached an agreement on a £53 million deal to recruit the Frenchman back in December, albeit there hasn’t been an official announcement as of yet.
Nkunku is expected to go to Stamford Bridge at the beginning of July, despite initial concerns that he could reconsider given Chelsea’s impending failure to finish in the top four.
Rangnick is well familiar with the player and in fact, suggested him to Manchester United when he initially arrived at Old Trafford as an interim manager because he was actively connected with Leipzig when Nkunku transferred there from Paris Saint-Germain in 2019.
But the race for a player who scored 20 goals in the Bundesliga last season was won by Chelsea. Rangnick is worried that he made the wrong choice because the Blues are currently stranded in 11th place in the standings.
As reported by BILD, in response to a question regarding Chelsea, who are attempting to sign Rangnick’s former prodigy Nagelsmann, he said to ZDF: “I’m also thinking of a player whose arrival at RB Leipzig I was a little bit involved in: Christopher Nkunku.”
One of the top attacking midfielders currently on the market, in my opinion, who chose to join Chelsea way too soon.
“Can you imagine that such a talented player joins a team in the situation Chelsea is in right now?”
This personally breaks my heart. Right now, if I were his parent or advisor, I would be quite concerned.
He continued, “At the moment, no matter who comes in as a coach, you can’t really recommend anyone to go there,” in a thinly veiled warning to Nagelsmann. First and foremost, a plan must be made, and the group must be whittled down to a size that any coach can manage.
Despite investing £600 million over the previous year, Chelsea has had four different coaches this season — Thomas Tuchel, Graham Potter, Bruno Saltor, and now Frank Lampard — and is now likely to completely miss out on playing in Europe next year.
Nkunku, on the other hand, has had a season marred by injuries. He tore knee ligaments in training with France on the eve of the World Cup and later experienced a thigh issue that caused him to miss six games for Leipzig.
Nkunku has been limited to just 15 starts in the Bundesliga this season, after having a great performance last year that distinguished him as one of the most intriguing young players in Europe. after this, he has still managed to score 12 goals.