Manchester United plotting January transfer for Christopher Nkunku

Manchester United defeated Fulham 1-0 at Craven Cottage on Sunday evening, courtesy of Lisandro Martinez’s late second half goal. The Argentine international helped Ruben Amorim’s side earn a vital win away from home to take them to 12th place in the Premier League standings in a match where the strikers faltered once again.

Neither Joshua Zirkzee nor Rasmus Hojlund were able to make the desired impact in the final third, thereby fuelling talk of Manchester United potentially landing a striker this month. Indeed, that remains a possibility with Sky Sports reporting that the Red Devils are interesting in Christopher Nkunku’s capture from Chelsea.

The source reports that intermediaries have held talks over a possible move to Old Trafford for the French forward and while Chelsea have no interest in parting company with him, a £70 million offer could change their mind. Manchester United might not pay that kind of money but are interesting in a discussing further given the Blues’ interest in Alejandro Garnacho too.

Nkunku too expensive for January
Christopher Nkunku has been a consistent source of goals for Chelsea in the Europa Conference League and on his occasional starts in the Premier League. The former RB Leipzig hitman remains behind Nicolas Jackson in the pecking order in spite of scoring 13 times and assisting on four occasions in all competitions this season and consequently, he has opened the door to pursuing regular minutes elsewhere.

While he is a quality striker, there is not much to justify about Nkunku for Manchester United to spend £70 million on him. His goals have come against significantly inferior Conference League teams, whereas the player’s fitness had been a concern in his first several months at Chelsea and may have improved this season solely due to Enzo Maresca’s management of his game time.

In the summer, United could have several more options available at a similar price tag including the likes of Matheus Cunha, Victor Osimhen and Viktor Gyokeres, so it is hard to argue against their stance of not wanting to meet Chelsea’s demands for Nkunku.