Chelsea forward Christopher Nkunku could make his debut against Newcastle United tonight, but Mauricio Pochettino has one worry.
Mauricio Pochettino spoke to the Evening Standard and the rest of the English media about Christopher Nkunku ahead of his side’s Carabao Cup quarter-final tie.
The Frenchman is yet to play a game for Chelsea this season because of injury.
He was fit enough to make the bench for their 2-0 win over Sheffield United over the weekend, but Pochettino decided not to bring him on.
Mauricio Pochettino’s Christopher Nkunku worry
Pochettino is concerned about Nkunku coming under too much pressure.
On the 26-year-old, he said: “My worry is putting too much pressure on him and saying now he has arrived, this guy is going to make us win every single game and change everything. I don’t believe it will be like this because he now needs time to recover his feeling.
“I hope that starts tomorrow [Today]. Maybe [he can] play and score three goals and then be consistent. The most important thing is not to create too much pressure on him. He needs to find himself, find the competition and then adapt to a team that was competing without him for the last four or five months.”
Mauricio Pochettino has added to the pressure
It is a bit ironic because Pochettino has probably not done Nkunku any favours by constantly referring to his absence when discussing why things have not gone well for Chelsea this season.
For that reason alone, a lot is now going to be expected of the France international, who Chelsea legend Frank Leboeuf is desperate to see play.
Nkunku has the potential to be a big player for Chelsea, though. When you look at his goal record at RB Leipzig, it was really impressive.
Is he going to fix all of their problems? No. However, if his time in Germany and the games he played in pre-season are anything to go by, he should at least be able to solve one of the Blues’ biggest issues: scoring goals.
They have got better in that department lately, but there is more room to improve.
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