Chelsea Officially Confirm £53m Signing Of RB Leipzig Forward, Christopher Nkunku

Chelsea Football Club has officially confirmed the signing of 25-year-old Christopher Nkunku from RB Leipzig.

The French international has signed a six-year contract following a pre-agreed deal between the two clubs, which was finalized at the end of last year.

With a buyout clause of just under £53 million in his RB Leipzig contract, Christopher Nkunku underwent medical tests early last season before an agreement being reached in December.

On Tuesday, June 20, 2023, Chelsea took to Twitter to announce the news, sharing a video captioned “Nkunku is a Blue!” along with a photo saying “Welcome Nkunku.”

Expressing his excitement about joining Chelsea, Nkunku stated, “I am incredibly happy to be joining Chelsea. 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.”

Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley, Chelsea’s co-sporting directors, commented on the signing, saying, “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 ended his time at RB Leipzig on a high note, helping the team secure a 2-0 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt in the DFB-Pokal Cup final by scoring a goal.

Despite an injury-plagued season, the striker managed to score 16 goals, finishing as the joint-highest goal scorer in the 2022-2023 Bundesliga campaign.

Christopher Nkunku also provided six assists, contributing to Leipzig’s third-place finish in the standings, with a five-point gap behind league champions, Bayern Munich.

Meanwhile, Arsenal Football Club has made an enhanced offer of £60 million for Chelsea forward, Kai Havertz, with a £210,000-per-week contract.