Christopher Nkunku has spoken out from the sidelines after missing Chelsea’s impressive 1-1 draw with Liverpool over the weekend.
The 25-year-old signed for Chelsea in January 2023 but remained on loan at Red Bull Leipzig until the end of the season. He helped the German side capture the DFB-Pokal and also bagged the Bundesliga Player of the Year award before bidding goodbye to Germany and joining up with Chelsea in July.
Nkunku would then pick up an injury while Chelsea were on their pre-season tour of the United States of America, leading to him having to miss the first few weeks of the 2023/24 Premier League season.
The French forward watched as his side played out a very entertaining opening-day tie with Liverpool at Stamford Bridge. The game ended 1-1 with many fans and pundits applauding the new-look Chelsea without Nkunku for how they handled themselves against Jürgen Klopp and his Liverpool team.
Nkunku, who is expected to return to training later in the year and back to the pitch sometime in December after having surgery on his injured knee, expressed his disappointment at missing the match in a post shared on his Instagram. He then vowed to come back stronger and help Chelsea shoot back up to the top of the table after their disastrous 2022/23 outing.
Nkunku wrote: “As you can imagine, I’m so disappointed not to be able to be with my team-mates during the start of the season.
“It’s hard not to have been able to meet you guys at the Bridge. I will work hard to come back stronger. It’s only a matter of time.”
Meanwhile, Nkunku will return to the Cobham training centre to meet new teammates. Axel Disasi, British record signing Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia are going to be the new faces welcoming Nkunku back to training when he returns.
French U-21 attacking midfielder Michael Olise could also be welcoming Nkunku back to training as reports have emerged that Chelsea are close to signing the Crystal Palace playmaker.
Olise, who was on the books at Chelsea as a youngster, has a release clause of £35 million which the Blues have met in order to bring their former academy kid back to the club.
Crystal Palace are not happy with how the deal has turned out but their grouse may not be paid any mind as the Blues are happy with their conduct and ready to defend it before any regulatory bodies.
