Enzo Maresca on Christopher Nkunku’s future

Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca has hinted that there will be players looking to leave the club in the January transfer window, though he’d like Christopher Nkunku to stay.

There has been some uncertainty surrounding the France international after a lack of regular playing time in Maresca’s starting XI, so it wouldn’t be too surprising if he felt it would be a good decision to leave.

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Maresca seems aware that Nkunku looking for a move could be a possibility, but it also seems clear that the Italian tactician wouldn’t be the one looking to force the player out.

See below for Maresca’s quotes on Nkunku, as cited by journalist Fabrizio Romano on X…

? Maresca on Nkunku’s future: “We like Christo and we want him here”.

“There will always be players that are not happy and some that will ask to leave in January. I am not sure if that will be Christo’s or another player’s case. We want to keep them here”. pic.twitter.com/s5SjKQsztz

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) December 26, 2024

Nkunku is a fine player on his day and is surely good enough to start for a number of top clubs, so it’s a bit of a mystery why things haven’t gone better for him at Stamford Bridge.

The 27-year-old faces competition from Nicolas Jackson as Chelsea’s main striker, and though he can also play in other positions, there are also a lot of other big names in Maresca’s attack, such as Cole Palmer, Jadon Sancho, Joao Felix, Pedro Neto and Noni Madueke.

Chelsea should surely keep Christopher Nkunku

Even if Jackson has had his moments up front for CFC this season, Nkunku looks like arguably the player with the bigger potential.

Nkunku has 13 goals in all competitions this season, despite playing almost half as many minutes as Jackson, who has a total of nine.

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Jackson has other qualities, of course, but it’s also surely worth giving Nkunku more of a run in the team at some point.

It’s certainly easy to imagine that Chelsea could live to regret it if they let Nkunku go, as he would surely shine for another major European club and make the Blues regret allowing him to leave without giving him more of a chance.