Pat Nevin tells everyone to ‘calm down’ about £52m Chelsea player

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Pat Nevin has urged everyone to temper their expectations when it comes to Chelsea’s Christopher Nkunku.

Christopher Nkunku caught the eye during pre-season in Chelsea colours, but he’s still waiting to make his official club debut after sitting out this campaign so far through injury.

The £52million attacker (Sky Sports) is now being pictured around Cobham a lot more regularly in training.

Speaking via Chelsea’s YouTube account last week, Mauricio Pochettino said that Nkunku continues to be assessed day by day.

There’s no doubt that there’s a buzz in the fanbase about his return. Hopefully, there’s positive news about his fitness ahead this Saturday’s game at home to Sheffield United in the Premier League.

Don’t expect too much

BBC pundit Nevin doesn’t want everyone to expect too much from Nkunku when he comes into the Chelsea side.

He’s noted that the versatile attacker isn’t the solution to the club’s obvious No 9 problem, too.

When asked if Nkunku is really crucial to Chelsea, Nevin told BBC Sport: “I always warn people off the Nkunku thing because I can remember everyone felt the same about Timo Werner before he came to Chelsea.

“He’s not an out-and-out pure striker. He’s generally one behind the striker.

“He’s not played Premier League football before, so let’s calm down a little bit. He’s not exactly what Chelsea need to change everything around.

“… To say it will be okay when we get Nkunku back, I’m not absolutely convinced in that.”

Expectation on Christopher Nkunku

TEAMtalk claimed a couple of weeks ago that there’s real excitement from within Chelsea about the impact Nkunku can make when fit. The same goes for injured midfielder Romeo Lavia, too.

Nkunku may not be an out-and-out striker, but he still scored 23 goals in 36 games last season for RB Leipzig in Germany.

We, along with lots of supporters, are optimistic that the Frenchman can provide an extra spark going forward.

Perhaps it’s right not to expect to much from him too soon, though.

There’s no doubt that it’ll crank up the competition for places and drive the squad once he’s available for selection.