Blues believe 26-year-old could fulfil similar role to that of Gabriel Jesus at Manchester City | OneFootball

Chelsea are still in the market for a striker but haven’t rushed into anything as they believe Christopher Nkunku could fulfil a false nine role according to reports.

Nkunku arrived at Chelsea last summer from Bundesliga club RB Leipzig in a deal worth £52m, but his debut season at the club was wrecked by injury.

The 26-year-old had an impressive start to pre-season but picked up a knee injury in Chelsea’s last game against Borussia Dortmund which ruled him out for four months.

Nkunku could play false nine next season

Nkunku made his debut against Newcastle in the Carabao Cup in December, but suffered further set backs in the new year with hip and hamstring injuries.

The France international was limited to just 14 appearances in all competitions, scoring three goals and will be desperate to put his injury woes behind him ahead of the new campaign.

Nkunku will be hoping to put his injury issues behind him next season.

Nkunku is a top quality player, as shown from his time in the Bundesliga where he scored 70 goals and provided 56 assists in 172 games.

The Blues have signed 18-year-old Marc Guiu from Barcelona, who will reportedly be part of the first team sqaud, but they are still believed to be looking for another striker to compete with Nicolas Jackson.

The Telegraph report Chelsea haven’t rushed into signing a striker because they believe Nkunku could play a similar false nine role like Gabriel Jesus did in his time at Manchester City.

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Nkunku is certainly a versatile player who can also play behind the striker and on the left hand side, but it would certainly appear to be a gamble on Chelsea’s behalf to go into the new season with Jackson and an inexperienced Guiu as the only centre forward options in the squad.

The Blues have been linked with a whole host of strikers, including Jhon Duran, Samu Omorodion and Jonathan David, but it appears they are taking their time before deciding who to make a move for.