Fabrizio Romano: Chelsea FC closing in on signing of Christopher Nkunku

Chelsea FC are closing in on a deal to sign Christopher Nkunku from RB Leipzig next summer, according to Italian reporter Fabrizio Romano.

Romano took to social media on Monday afternoon to report that the Blues are edging closer to a deal to bring the 25-year-old attacker to Stamford Bridge ahead of next season.

The Italian journalist also claimed that a medical has already taken place and it’s now just a matter of time until the contracts are signed and the deal is confirmed.

Posting on his personal Twitter account, Romano said: “Chelsea are closing in on Christopher Nkunku deal. Medical already done as reported in September, agreement in place with Leipzig for more than €60m clause / easier payment terms. Long term deal agreed starting from June 2023. Time to sign contracts then… here we go.”

Nkunku has been in eye-catching form for RB Leipzig so far this season, scoring 12 goals in 15 Bundesliga games to help the German side up to third place in the table.

The Lagny-sur-Marne-born player withdrew from France’s World Cup squad before the first fixture of the tournament due to injury.

Meanwhile, one current Chelsea FC player who has been excelling at the 2022 World Cup is Hakim Ziyech. The 29-year-old, who has struggled to produce consistent form for Chelsea FC since his move to south west London from Ajax, has played the full 90 minutes in both of Morocco’s group games so far and was named man of the match thanks to his display as he notched up an assist in their 2-0 win over Belgium on Sunday.

And Ziyech drew special praise from Morocco boss Walid Regragui at his post-match news conference after Sunday’s win.

“You know this guy, he is incredible,” Regragui said of Ziyech after the game. “The spirit, when he came back into the national team, it came back. What a lot of people say about him is that he’s a crazy guy, a difficult guy to manage, he can’t help the team.

“But for me what I see is that when you give him love and confidence, he can die for you. And that is what I give him.

“And he returned to me my confidence and the confidence of the fans of Morocco, because a lot of fans of Morocco wanted Hakim to come back into the team and he knew that.”

Ziyech has only started one Premier League game this season and has only featured in five of the Blues’ 14 top-flight fixtures so far this term.