Tous mes footballeurs francophones vont adorer celui-ci ! 😉
In today’s episode we have a baller that hails from Paris… A player who is one of the most consistently brilliant and well equipped when it comes to playing a variety of different positions in and around the attacking third. A player who continues to blossom at the highest stage and someone who has the potential to be a great, we’re talking about the French international, Christopher Alan Nkunku! 🇫🇷
Nkunku’s start to his footballing journey can be brought back to his days within the Paris Saint Germain Academy set up where he was one of many players who never made the final cut into the first team, with the likes of Matteo Guendouzi, Moussa Diaby, Mike Maignan, and Kingsley Coman all having respectable careers even though they didn’t make it into the first team set up (as a matter of fact, that would be quite an interesting read to look at some of the best Youth Academy set ups around europe, init? ).
Nevertheless, Christopher didn’t sulk or feel sorry for himself. He used this opportunity to venture to new pastures and effectively made a name for himself in Germany under some of the most promising managers in the modern game like Ralph Hassenhütl, Julian Nagelsmann and Marco Rose. It was at Leipzig where he truly got to develop into the versatile “can do it all” type of attacker who is quite effiecint and is considered a jack of all trades. Although his career at Chelsea hasn’t started in the best way he’d like due to countless injuries, it’s safe to say that Under Mauricio Pochettino he can blossom into a player that P.S.G probably wished that they had within their team now (well, not really, since they have quite a decent amount of quality already within the attacking positions…).
SM24 ATTRIBUTES
When you see a player with these type of attributes it should really bring out a sense of joy within you since Nkunku simply is a player that gives any manager so many various options to choose from with the level of flexibilty he provides. It’s safe to say that SM24 is a very good representation of the kind of baller that he is, but let’s see if there are any tweaks that need to be implemented:
TACTICAL ATTRIBUTES
Alongside Antoine Greizmann (look out for a future episode on him…), it’s safe to say that Christopher is one of the most technically gifted players that France have at their disposal who are comfortable playing in the AM(C)/ F(C) positions. From his top class Movement, all the way to his Creativity, which allows him to connect with his teammates, Nkunku is someone who will provide high volume when it comes to how effective he will be at either scoring or creating chances. We will have to bring down his Passing a little since although he can slide it through to his teammates with good accuracy, having a Short Passing of ’92’ is WAYYY above his actual passing ability (he aint no Roberto Firmino or Thomas Müller). As for everything else, it’s safe to say that they’re a good representation of what Nkunku will bring to your team (if you chose to purchase or use him)….
WHAT WE THINK
PHYSICAL ATTRIBUTES
I cannot remember a time where a French Forward didn’t have some form of exceptional Pace…. Christopher is exactly the same in terms of his; When running without the ball, he isn’t the most hardworking chap since he makes up for it with what he does on the ball; I would’ve liked to see his Aerial Abilty slightly higher, but we’ve given Invincibles Studio (Creators of Soccermanager) the benefit of doubt. Christopher is capable enough in the air but isn’t an ‘out and out’ goal scorer for long enough to be considered an elite header of the ball, so it will remain at ’68’. Like we’ve also mentioned, he doesn’t do the most off the ball which is why his Workrate is so low; His Stamina is also an indicator of where he is in terms of his injury proneness (which is quite accurate as he’s been frequently injured during his time at Chelsea, so far)…
WHAT WE THINK
MENTAL ATTRIBUTES
Don’t know about you, but I think these mental attributes really justify the type of mentality it will take to be rejected by your boyhood club and having to make a name for yourself in a foreign country at such a young age… Christopher’s game doesn’t necessarily need him to be the most aggressive; He is indeed a pretty composed player which is why he is so effective within the attacking third; His Concentration is fine since he isn’t that much of an off the ball operator in terms of what he brings to the team from a defensive point of view (although, it does assist him when it comes to his Movement when your team has possession of the ball); He is a Flair player, but at the same time isn’t a Flair player ( if you know what we mean…); Nkunku is most definitely a leader as he was one of the main men at RB Leipzig, and we can guarantee that he will also be a leader at the current youngest team within the Premier League.
Nkunku gives us the opportunity to do a lot in terms of the variety that he provides. A player that will perform well in multiple positions and in multiple varying roles, and now you know that there isn’t any second guessess pertaining what he will be able to bring to your tactical set up within your starting X1!
We start from the top in our next episode, Soccermanagerite… 🙂
The Soccermanager Experience 