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30 Dean Saunders has suggested Christopher Nkunku may need to leave Chelsea in order to become a first-team regular.
Nkunku joined the Blues from RB Leipzig last summer following a glorious spell with the German club, during which he notched 70 goals and 56 assists in 172 appearances across four years.
A host of injury problems restricted Nkunku to just 14 appearances for Chelsea across all competitions last season, scoring three goals.
Nkunku is back fit and this season, he already has seven goals to his name in 11 appearances across all competitions.
However, most of the France international’s success has come in cup competitions, restricted to just 126 minutes across seven Premier League appearances, scoring once.
Nkunku scored for France in their 4-1 win over Israel in the Uefa Nations League on Thursday.
Does Christopher Nkunku need to leave Chelsea?
(Photo by Ryan Hiscott/Getty Images)Speaking in the context of which players his former team, Aston Villa, could poach from bigger clubs, Saunders believes Nkunku is in a bit of a no-win situation at Stamford Bridge.
“It probably isn’t realistic for Villa to sign Curtis Jones or Harvey Elliott but I was trying to give an example. I’m looking at clubs who have really good players who aren’t getting a game,” Saunders told Bonus Code Bets.
“Chelsea, I’ve lost count of how many players they’ve got but they can’t all get in the team. They’re not only the best players in the country they’re from but they’re treated like the best ever from that country. They’ve also been the best players at the clubs they were at.
“They find it really difficult to sit on the bench for five or six games and not get a game. I’ve been a manager and this is where you start getting issues.”
He added: “It (issues) cropped up when they played in the League Cup [against Barrow]. Nkunku scored a hat-trick. The manager left Nicolas Jackson out of the team, he rested him and then he put Nkunku in who scored three. Then when Chelsea play on Sunday against Brighton, he has to call Nkunku in and say ‘I’m sorry, I’m leaving you out, I’m putting Nicolas Jackson back in’.
“At that moment, Nkunku knows no matter what I do, I’m not going to start in front of Jackson. With six games in, I can’t see a future at the club. As long as the manager keeps winning games, he’s got a bit of power. But if you lose two or three, players in that Chelsea dressing room all start getting a voice. That’s when they turn against you and that’s the problem when you have too many players.
“So, going back to your point. I’m sure there’s players at Chelsea that you could slide off of that. Arsenal are only paying a third of Raheem Sterling’s wages with Chelsea paying the rest. You probably can get a deal out of Chelsea right now.”
