Despite spending the enormous sums of money they did over the summer, the 2023/24 Premier League season hasn't been much kinder to Chelsea than 2022/23 was.
Mauricio Pochettino has struggled to find a winning formula with his young but very promising squad, and it feels that another embarrassing defeat quickly follows every impressive win.
That said, injuries have not been kind to the west Londoners, and with Wesley Fofana, Roméo Lavia, and Christopher Nkunku out for most, if not all, of the season, the Blues' potential was always going to be limited.
The latter was supposed to be the goalscorer the club were crying out for last year, but his dismal season has just resulted in his value falling below that of a former Chelsea academy gem.
Christopher Nkunku's transfer valuation in 2024
Nkunku first agreed to join Chelsea in December 2022 but remained in Germany for the rest of the season before finally moving for around £52m in June 2023.
The move represented a significant investment from the Blues, but with the Frenchman's record of 70 goals and 56 assists in 172 games for RB Leipzig, it was well worth making.
Appearances
78
172
10
Goals
11
70
2
Assists
4
56
0
Goal Involvements per Match
0.19
0.73
0.2
Games Missed Through Injury
3
29
30
However, the 26-year-old's career in London started in the worst way possible. He picked up a knee injury whilst on the club's pre-season tour, which meant he didn't make his competitive debut for the Pensioners until the 19th of December when he made a cameo in the team's League Cup quarter-final win over Newcastle United.
Unfortunately, the 5 foot 10 ace seems to have some terrible luck as he has since suffered more injuries and is currently out of action due to a potential hamstring problem, with no return date in sight.
In all, the former Paris Saint-Germain prospect has made only ten appearances for Chelsea this season, in which he's scored just two goals, whereas he's missed a grand total of 30 games – and counting – through injury.
These consistent injuries paired with his underwhelming, albeit short, cameos have seen his value stagnate, and according to the CIES Football Observatory, Nkunku is now worth just €40m, or £34m, which is less than a former academy gem is now worth across the city. The former academy gem in question is Arsenal's backup striker, Eddie Nketiah.
Why Chelsea released Eddie Nketiah
The once-capped Englishman joined the Gunners' academy in 2015 after being released by Chelsea as a 14-year-old. Recalling why he was let go, the attacker once commented:
"I was physically underdeveloped, small for my age, and it felt like a big moment because growing up in a sporting area, everyone knows you’re the young player who plays for Chelsea, and it almost becomes part of your identity. So it’s very tough to take it and let go."
Though, after impressing the right people for a year, he signed his first professional contract with the north Londoners.
Having spent a few years making the odd cameo here and there and spending six months on loan at Leeds United, the Lewisham-born poacher finally got his chance to impress in the 2021/22 campaign, and impress he did.
The 5 foot 11 "monster", as described by The Athletic's Aaron Catterson-Reid, scored ten goals and provided one assist in just 27 appearances for the first team, including a brilliant brace away to none other than Chelsea in the league.
The following campaign saw him score nine goals and provide three assists in 39 games, while this season, he has six goals and five assists in 33 appearances.
This track record of goals for a top side, along with his age and relatively clean injury record, has probably led the CIES Football Observatory to value the Englishman at around €50m, which is about £53m, or £19m more than Nkunku.
Market Movers
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Ultimately, would the Arsenal man be a starter ahead of the Frenchman at Chelsea? Probably not, but there is no doubt that with him injured, Nketiah would be able to score goals for the Blues, and even if Pochettino didn't fancy him, the club would have a valuable asset to sell in the summer. Instead, they let him go without receiving so much as a penny.
