Chelsea fans had high hopes for summer signing Christopher Nkunku, but things could not have gone much worse for the 26 year old as he began to adjust to life in England.
Having come in for a £52 million fee from RB Leipzig, he quickly picked up a left knee injury during a pre season friendly out in Chicago, and he underwent surgery to fix the problem back in August.
With the New Year now almost with us, he is yet to make his competitive debut for the Stamford Bridge outfit, but manager Mauricio Pochettino is quietly confident that the ten capped French international striker will now play some part in their upcoming Premier League clash with Sheffield United and begin to get a proper ‘feel’ for the English game.
“It’s a big motivation for us, for his team-mates, and the fans to see a player that should be important for us being in the squad for the first time. It’s very good news for us and it’s time to be calm and quiet because we don’t want to put the pressure on him.”
With 16 German Bundesliga goals in just 25 games last season, there is no reason to doubt that Nkunku will be a success in the Premier League, but given the start that he has had, Pochettino is right to try and take the pressure off him. Of course, he will be far more settled now and know his new team mates better, but it will still take time for him to gel and strike up understandings with them given the time he has spent on the side lines, but as he finds his form moving through the second half of the season, it will give a good indication as to what his level could be in the next campaign.
Chelsea supporters will undoubtedly be hoping he can pick up where he left off though, as in his pre season run outs, Pochettino’s first signing after taking the job on, did look very impressive and he actually returned three goals in five matches as he started finding his feet.
It was not all good news though, Pochettino also confirmed that Spanish goalkeeper Robert Sanchez will now be out until at least the very end of the month having picked up a knee injury, but fellow summer signing from New England Revolution, Djorde Petrovic, has the gaffers full backing to step in and do the job he was signed for.
“Of course I have faith in him, I have faith in all my players. He arrived to Chelsea because he has potential. We really trust he can perform in the way we want.”
The Serbian international will be looking to impress now he has the chance to, and given Chelsea’s season so far, fans will be hoping he does just that.