Exclusive: Chelsea playing poker with €35m attacker who they claim is still in their plans | OneFootball

Chelsea’s Christopher Nkunku is in a funny position right now.

He was moving pretty rapidly towards the exit – he played less and less, and looked less and less bothered. We would have put him among the favourites to go in the summer as the club look to tweak their squad.

However his inclusion in the Club World Cup squad, plus his regular features for the Blues there, have given the impression that he might actually still be in the frame. Some of the whispers we’ve heard in the last few weeks have confirmed that.

German giants still keen on Chelsea attacker – at right price

Christopher Nkunku in action against ES Tunis.(Photo by Francois Nel/Getty Images)

That won’t stop other teams being interested however, and Christian Falk’s exclusive report this week gives some detail on Bayern Munich’s interest.

“Leandro Trossard is the backup if one of the others doesn’t work, like Martinelli and Christopher Nkunku,” Falk wrote.

“Nkunku is now cheaper than he was when Max Eberl asked for him in the winter. I think Chelsea wanted about €70m [£60.5m]. Now, it could be half the price. Also, a connection worth bearing in mind – Pini Zahavi made many deals with Bayern Munich previously. The last one was Jonathan Tah, so you see the network is there! That’s why he’s also on the list.”

Chelsea playing poker with Nkunku price

Those factors are pretty interesting – the agent connection, and the lowered price. €70m was a crazy sum to ask for in the first place, but €35m is too low. We’d expect €40m might get it done, but Chelsea would want bonuses to take it to €45m at least.

The fact they’re still supposedly counting on him sounds suspiciously like a tactic to strengthen their negotiating position. Everything will become clear in the next few weeks.