A Brief Look At Christopher Nkunku
This Season At RB Leipzig
RB Leipzig's 2021/22 season has been topsy-turvy to say the least. Upon losing Julian Nagelsmann, the poster boy of the up-and-coming managers in Europe, to what seems like perennial Bundesliga Leaders Bayern Munich, whilst also having to watch two of their most talented defenders in Dayot Upamecano (who joined Nagelsmann at the Bavarian club alongside midfield general Marcel Sabitzer) and Ibrahima Konaté leave the club, it was destined to be a tough season for Leipzig.
The incoming Jesse Marsch, joining from sister club RB Salzburg, seemed to be a pretty logical next step in the process. Viewed as someone who was already accustomed with the RedBull style of play, no one could have foreseen how terribly it was going to turn out for the American.
Having won just five games out of 14 this season, Marsch was sacked on 5th December 2021 as Leipzig sat a lowly 11th in the Bundesliga table following three straight defeats in the Bundesliga. This period also some them knocked out of the UEFA Champions League in the group stage itself, although it should be noted that they were placed alongside Pep Guardiola's Manchester City and a PSG side which boasts an attacking triplet of Messi, Neymar and Mbappe.
The arrival of Domenico Tedesco seems to have steadied the ship, with Leipzig winning 6 out of the next 9 league matches which has seen them climb up the table where they now sit in 4th spot.
Throughout the ups and downs of the season, however, if there is one man who has taken his game to the next level, it is ex-PSG starlet Christopher Nkunku.
He has scored 13 goals in the league so far, a career high, and has also bagged 7 goals in the UEFA Champions League group stages. It is fair to say that the Frenchman has undergone a transformation this season, from a goal-providing winder/attacking midfielder to an all-round forward who scores and creates goals.
In his first season at Leipzig, Nkunku scored 5 goals and provided 13 assists. This season, however, he has 13 goals and 7 assists. Now playing as the left forward in Tedesco's 3-4-3/3-4-1-2 system, he occupies the inside left channel (or the left half-space) and looks to exploit space between the center-back and full-back.
Game Footage Credit: Bundesliga
He also frequently changes positions with Dominik Szoboszlai (or the player who plays instead of Szoboszlai) - who on paper starts as the right forward - and looks to use his ability to exploit the half-space on the right too.
Here are a few examples of him doing just that:
Video Credit: Bundesliga Youtube Channel
Video Credit: Bundesliga Youtube Channel
A Little Too 'Forward-y' for Midfielders, A Little Too 'Midfielder-y' for Forwards
After trying to come up with a statement that best describes what Nkunku is, this is what I came up with (lol). If we try to compare his statistics this season against forwards, his possession and playmaking abilities show up as being the best amongst forwards. If we compare his numbers against midfielders, his goalscoring and progressive pass reception numbers pop up.
This can be better explained visually -
Video Credit: Bundesliga Youtube Channel
Playing Style
If we take a look at where Nkunku receives most progressive passes, it becomes clear as to which spaces the Frenchman likes to occupy -
He will drop deep to help bring the ball out of the back, and as the team moves vertically upwards, he will take up the space usually between the fullbacks and centerbacks and try to exploit the space between and behind them. When on the ball, he uses his excellent ball control and dribbling ability to go past defenders and also likes to play short, quick passes with his fellow forwards to disrupt a settled opposition.
What enables him to do so, time and time again, is the clarity of the fundamentals of making runs. His body positioning when doing so is excellent - he's not flat footed with his back to goal. He maintains an 'open' body position, which allows him to have a look at the play behind him as well as the space in front of him -
Game Footage Credit: Bundesliga
This goal Nkunku scored against Mainz this season is an excellent example of what we talked about coming to fruition in one sequence - occupying the space between full-back and center-back, showing for the ball, an open body position, run in behind - all the fundamentals capped off with a sumptuous chip over the keeper.
During the clash vs Bayern, the goal he scored is again an example of the principles we spoke earlier, but he does a little maneuver right before he makes his move, and that is what makes him a dangerous forward. It is that little movement that isolates him from Pavard, and lets him make a blind side run behind the Bayern defence -
Video Credit: Bundesliga Youtube Channel
Let's break down what he did here that allowed him to have a 1v1 against Neuer -
Game Footage Credit: Bundesliga
Game Footage Credit: Bundesliga
Game Footage Credit: Bundesliga
Once that ball was played behind the Bayern defence, it was a simple finish for the Frenchman.
As we spoke about earlier, Nkunku is also an adept passer and ball carrier. Let's take a look at a couple of vizzes that will help us illustrate this further.
As visible from the prior viz, Nkunku loves to carry the ball into the box as soon as he receives passes in the half-spaces just outside the box. He then looks to set up his teammates or shoot himself.
His progressive passes are also located in-and-around the box, showing he has the ability to become the playmaker for his team.
Leading The Line
When Timo Werner left Leipzig to join Chelsea in 2019/20, having scored an incredible 28 goals (and providing a further 8 assists), there was a massive gap in the frontline. In 2020/21, Marcel Sabitzer was the leading scorer with a tally of just 8 goals. And then, at the beginning of this season, RB Leipzig lost Sabizter too.
They responded by signing Eintracht Frankfurt hitman André Silva, fresh off scoring 28 goals and providing 7 assists in 2020/21. The Portugese, however, didn't have the start Leipzig fans would have expected, contributing to just 4 goal contributions in the first 11 games.
This meant that Nkunku had to step up and pick up the mantle. He too didn't have much luck in a faultering Leipzig side under Jesse Marsch, with no goal contributions in the league in the first 5 games. But he did pick up form as the season went by, and this has led to him being RB Leipzig's top goalscorer this season so far.
Let's take a look at where those goals have come from -
While he still likes to take shots from outside the box, his decision making has steadily improved as he has matured.
This maturity can be seen in his numbers too -
This means that he is now getting into better positions and is taking better shots, leading to better xG per shot, which now sits at an all-time high.
He has also been taking shots closer to the opposition goal, and has been getting better at it season on season (small sample size in 2017/18) -
One of Nkunku's standout goal-scoring performances this season came against Manchester City in the UCL group stage, when he scored a hattrick despite the RedBull side losing the match 6-3. This included two 'traditional 9' like headers, and this superb move -
Video Credit: Man City Youtube Channel
Nkunku is in good company when compared to his peers in terms of goal contributions. He is 11th in Europe's top five leagues for goals and 17th for assists. For non penalty xG + xA (Total non penalty expected goal contributions) per 90, he sits 10th in Europe.
Here's a look at some of his shooting numbers compared to other forwards in his age group -
While this means he can certainly improve by taking more shots (quite obvious, given he is not Leipzig's main striker), the quality of shots taken by Nkunku is already very good.
And when it comes to his playmaking ability compared to other forwards, well -
Nkunku is already in some elite company when it comes to playmaking, and sits just next to his teammate in Dominik Szoboszlai.
Basically, he's a little too 'Forward-y' for midfielders, & a little too 'Midfielder-y' for forwards!
What's Next?
When Nkunku left PSG for German shores in 2019/20, he did so because of PSG's well known strategy of buying superstars instead of developing them. Hailing from the same academy in his youth days which housed talents such as Allan Saint-Maximin, Marcus Thuram and a certain Kylian Mbappé, Nkunku is now being linked to a host of top clubs, a few of which include Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool.
A move to Merseyside would have made the most sense out of all the names mentioned, to replace another 'midfielder-y' forward the Reds bought from the Bundesliga in 2015 - Roberto Firmino. Nkunku shares a lot of the same traits as the Brazilian - fast feet, great vision, skills, an ability to link up extremely well with other forwards, and also being able to find the back of the net.
But with Klopp's side having signed Diogo Jota and more recently the 'Colombian Neymar' Luis Díaz, the left-wing and the forward/left inside forward space has been covered up for the foreseeable future. And while Nkunku can occasionally operate as an inside right forward, it would not be the best position for him. Not to forget, Liverpool still have Salah, Mane and Firmino himself on their books. This means not only will he have a lot of competition from some of the best forwards in Europe, but he might not even get to play in his favored position at Anfield.
Homecoming
A destination that makes more sense for Nkunku is none other than his former club Paris Saint-Germain. With Les Parisiens seemingly set to lose Kylian Mbappe to Real Madrid this summer, they can do with a young, creative forward to pick up the pieces.
Neymar cannot even complete 20 90s a season (the last time he did was in his first season at PSG in 2017/18), and PSG already have a 'fox in the box' striker (although quite maligned) in Mauro Icardi. They will also lose Ángel Di María soon, and in him, will lose a huge and reliable creative outlet. This means Nkunku can play as the left forward when Neymar is unavailable, and can even play up top in place of Icardi when the Brazilian is fit. He can easily move to the right when needed too, knowing Messi's tendency to drift into the central zones.
This will ensure he gets consistent game time in either of his favored positions at one of the biggest clubs and can also return to his home country (if that is a factor).
From PSG's perspective, this makes a ton of sense too. Their main attackers are all on the older side, and neither Neymar or Messi seem very interested in pressing. Nkunku will bring that energy and will provide at least some amount of defensive help for the team. He will take over some of the creative and goalscoring burden being left by Mbappe, and with him being 24 and just about to hit his prime, he shouldn't take too long to hit form at Parc des Princes.
Having moved to Leipzig in a fee of about £11.70m, Transfermarkt now value Nkunku at £49.50m. With his contract expiring in the summer of 2024, he might cost any potential club upwards of £60m according to Bild. That may just about make him enough of a 'superstar' signing for Paris Saint-Germain to consider splurging that cash on him.
Conclusion
Whoever gets their hands on the Frenchman, will have a really talented, multi-dimensional attacker on their hands. He is already well-versed with pressing and can be a top forward for plenty of clubs. His attacking style is surely aided by the absurd high defensive lines teams in the Bundesliga keep, and he might have to go through a settling in period at his new club - similar to what Sancho has had to go through since his move to Old Trafford - where he might not get the kind of space he has been getting to run into this season. But as someone who is surely not low on confidence and who sees Zinedine Zidane as his idol, he will not be afraid to take the step up.
The future is bright for Christopher Nkunku.
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Resources -
fbref.com
transfermarkt.co.uk
understat.com
opta
youtube
Bild
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