Chelsea announce long-awaited Christopher Nkunku signing for £53m
The 25-year-old France forward has joined on a six-year contact and is the first signing of the Mauricio Pochettino era at Stamford Bridge.
Nkunku signed a pre-contract agreement with Chelsea in December and the deal has now been made official.
“I am incredibly happy to be joining Chelsea,” he said. “A big effort was made to bring me to the club and I am looking forward to meeting my new coach and teammates and showing the Chelsea supporters what I can do on the pitch.
“Having played in Ligue 1 and the Bundesliga, I now want to play in the Premier League, one of the strongest leagues in the world. I am very excited for this challenge and will be proud to wear the Chelsea shirt.”
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After coming on as a late substitute for France in their Euro 2024 qualifying win over Greece on Monday night, Nkunku travelled to Chelsea’s training ground in Cobham to seal his move.
Chelsea supporters will get a first glimpse of Nkunku on their pre-season tour in the United States.
He will hope to make his full debut against Liverpool on the opening weekend of the new season.
Chelsea co-sporting directors Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley said in a statement: “Christopher has proved himself one of the standout attacking players in European football over the past two seasons and will add quality, creativity and versatility to our squad.
“He has demonstrated his ability at the highest level with RB Leipzig and France and we look forward to him joining up with his new teammates ahead of the new season.”
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