Insider confirms “genuine interest” in attacker who has two big obstacles to January move

The whispers about Christopher Nkunku wanting to leave Chelsea have been around for a while – and the fact that he’s still unable to get into the team are only increasing their intensity.

With January here now, insider Ben Jacobs  has given an update which confirms specifically the rumours that Nkunku’s former club PSG are interested in him.

Jacobs insists that the Parisians “hold a genuine interest” in Nkunku but have not yet made “an approach” for him. Chelsea apparently don’t want to let him go, and a departure would need to be “player driven” as Jacobs puts it. We can imagine he’s getting impatient at this point – but probably not enough to really kick up a stink and force a move.

Let’s not forget, Nkunku was injured for most of last season, and possibly feels he owes Chelsea at least the patience to be a squad player for one year to make up for it.

Obstacles to Nkunku move make winter move feel unlikely

There are two obvious obstacles to a deal this month as we see it. Firstly PSG have a lot of attackers they don’t want already, and will likely need to sell at least one of them if they want to buy Nkunku. It also seems very uncertain to us that the Frenchman is the sort of attacker that Luis Enrique would want – but perhaps this is a decision from the sporting directors.

Secondly, it’s a question of whether Chelsea are willing to give up on Nkunku already. They’ve barely had any payoff on the £52m they paid two years ago, and it might end up being a huge mistake to sell him mid-season. What if Cole Palmer breaks an ankle next week?

There could yet be a chance for the former RB Leipzig man to get his big break and earn the trust of Enzo Maresca.