Christopher Nkunku is going to move to the Premier League with Chelsea this summer, but it turns out that Jurgen Klopp refused him a move to Liverpool.
The 25-year-old Nkunku has become a key player of RB Leipzig since his arrival from Paris Saint-Germain in 2019, and over the past year and a half he has scored 52 goals and 24 assists in 75 games.
But the Frenchman is expected to leave Germany this summer and reports are widespread that he is due to join Chelsea on a deal worth around £56 million.
This happened after the connection with the transfer to Anfield last year, before Darwin Nunez’s record transfer from Benfica was confirmed for the club.
It was unclear at the time whether the talk of Nkunku’s possible move to Liverpool was just agent talk, but now the Telegraph’s Sam Wallace has backed up those claims.
He explains that in the summer the club was “offered a chance” to sign the 18th player of Leipzig, but Klopp and assistant coach Pepein Linders “refused”.
At this stage, it’s hard to say whether this will turn out to be a mistake, but Liverpool have a strong attacking core, strengthened by the signing of Kodi Gakpo in January.
Wallace claims that Nkunku could serve as a “long-term replacement” for Roberto Firmino, although it seems that Klopp and his backroom staff are moving away from the central striker role, which is gradually getting out of control.
Nunez will inherit Firmino’s position as the first-choice central striker, and the Uruguayan is a much more orthodox striker than his teammate.
The signing of Luis Diaz from Porto also marked a change: the 25-year-old has become closer to a natural winger than the long-range striker Sadio Mane, who was before him.
In any case, in the person of Nunes, Diaz, Gakpo, Mohamed Salah and Diogo Hota, the Reds are well prepared for the attack, and even more if Firmino agrees to a new contract, and players like Ben Doak and Kaide Gordon are progressing as expected.
The rejection of Nkunku may be regarded as a mistake if he rushes into battle with Chelsea, but in fact the problems within the team lie elsewhere.
