Man United sent clear £53m transfer warning for star Ralf Rangnick loves ahead of January window
Manchester United have been linked with a January move for Chelsea star Christopher Nkunku, who has been the subject of praise from former interim manager Ralf Rangnick
Enzo Maresca has confirmed that Christopher Nkunku is not for sale in January following rumours linking the Chelsea star with a move to Manchester United. Nkunku joined Chelsea from RB Leipzig for £53million in the summer of 2023, but his debut season was marred by injury and he has found Premier League opportunities hard to come by this term.
His only start in the top flight this campaign was the opening-day defeat by Manchester City. Since then, he has been largely confined to substitute appearances, not playing for more than 15 minutes in any of Chelsea's last seven games.
Instead, he has mainly featured in cup competitions as part of the Blues' second string, becoming the team's top scorer in all competitions with 10 goals. Reports have suggested that the Frenchman is unhappy and considering a move to United in the January window.
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However, Maresca has now quashed these rumours, insisting Nkunku remains a crucial player. "I spoke to Christo days ago and he did not say he was unhappy. For sure, he would like to play minutes, but like many players. We have so many games, especially in December. Since we started, for me, there are not two squads – the squad is only one," he said.
"They can play Conference League or the Premier League. I completely want Christo to stay with us. I don't have any idea to let him leave in January. Christo's best position is between the lines as a No 10 but Cole [Palmer] is playing there.
"Joao Felix played a Premier League game the other day against Leicester and Christopher, for sure, is going to play Premier League games. But we have many players, we try to share minutes with all of them.
"The intention, the target is to keep all of them happy, even knowing that sometimes it's not possible. Now is not the moment or the time to think about January, we are still at the end of November, we still have many, many games, especially in December, then we will see."
Maresca has confessed that he is finding it challenging to distribute playing time among his large squad.
He further added: "The problem with Chris... it's not a problem, it's the same issue and the same thing we mentioned many times about Joao.If you play with Cole, if you play with Joao, if you play with Christo, if you play with Noni [Madueke], if you play with Jadon [Sancho]... who is defending? Because their skills are not defending, it's to attack. We love them, we want them but also we need balance.
"The last game we tried with Joao and Cole together. Hopefully next game or soon we can try Christo and Cole, Christo and Joao, for sure, and the reason why is because we have so many games.
"We are not going to play many games with Cole and Christo, or with Cole and Joao, we played the other day but you need balance. Leicester's plan won't be the same as Aston Villa's plan. They are all fantastic players, they are all going to play games, no doubt. But not every game."
It comes following comments from previous interim manager Ralf Rangnick, who praised Nkunku for being 'an outstanding player'.
He told ZDF sportstudio via BILD in April 2023: "At the moment, no matter who comes as a coach, you can't really recommend anyone to go there. The very first thing to do is establish some sort of strategy and reduce the squad to a reasonable size that any coach can work with.
"I'm also thinking of a player whose commitment to RB Leipzig I was at least a little involved in - Christopher Nkunku. For me one of the best attacking midfielders currently available. And who, in my opinion, decided to move to Chelsea far too early.
"Imagine he comes to a club that is in the state it is at the moment. Such an outstanding player. This hurts my heart personally. If I were his advisor or his father, I would be very worried right now."
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