Chelsea: What can fans expect from new £53m signing Christopher Nkunku and how he will fit in

Such is the affection for Christopher Nkunku in the hills of Saxony that Leipzig's local newspaper is tearful at his departure. In an effusive blog detailing his farewell, Leipziger Volkszeitung gushed that 'the always modest and friendly' man is 'the best player' to ever adorn the colours of the city's gutsy club.

It's hard for them not to be wistful after Chelsea confirmed his long-awaited £53million arrival on a six-year deal. The 25-year-old signed a pre-contract agreement with the Blues earlier in the season and has been a consummate professional since then, despite injuries marring his final months in Germany.

Here is a man who dribbles like an illusionist, a man who dances around goalkeepers with the pizzazz of Anton Du Beke, and times runs with the precision of a drill sergeant. A player who tucks away free-kicks for fun, has an explosive burst of pace, and finds space in a broom cupboard.

Over the past two seasons, he has notched 58 goals and 29 assists playing across a front four. His percentage of successful dribbles ranks among the Bundesliga's best.

No wonder he was voted 2021/22's Bundesliga Player of the Season. Beating Erling Haaland and Robert Lewandowski to the prize speaks volumes of his pedigree.

Having started his career as a central midfielder, the Frenchman looks most at home as a No 10, a second striker, or zipping in from the left wing.

Indeed, he told Football Manager a few months ago that he felt being an attacking midfielder is 'a position that suits me well. I like being close to the goal and being behind the striker. The role describes me as a player nicely, so I always like playing in this role.'

Laurent Blanc once spoke of his 'ease of technique' when he stepped up to PSG's first team. Coaches at distinguished academy Clairefontaine noticed his 'vision of the game' and 'intelligence of play' despite his diminutive figure.

His goals-per-minute ratio this season was bettered only by the unlikely figure of Bayern's Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting as Nkunku raced to be joint top scorer despite four injuries disrupting his campaign.

Consistency to this extent gave him plenty of chances to practice his trademark celebration: pulling a balloon out of his sock and blowing it up.

With a reputation for adaptability, Nkunku will fit in well with Mauricio Pochettino, who made a dynamic No 10 out of Dele Alli. Under the tutelage of the Argentine, he could become talismanic in the midst of all the instability enveloping the first team.

But Chelsea fans may be wary of highly rated attackers coming over from the Bundesliga, disregarding Erling Haaland.

Neither Timo Werner, nor Kai Havertz, nor Christian Pulisic, nor Jadon Sancho at Manchester United have lived up to the destinies they built in Germany - and Nkunku is not a natural striker.

Werner, in particular, arrived at Stamford Bridge with a ferocious goal-scoring pedigree: 95 goals in four years. We all know how that move ended up.

Deploy Nkunku correctly and he could be brilliant. Rely on him as a true No 9 and it could be a risk. While he has done well when shifted there, he has far less experience in this position than in his stated preference for the attacking midfield role.

Chelsea still need to pluck a star striker out of the offing, somebody who Nkunku can complement and use as a foil.

Pochettino's best bet will likely be playing him as a No 10 or on the left wing, where he can cut in and do damage with his right foot. The latter would mean admitting that Mykhailo Mudryk's extravagant experiment has failed.

None of this is to underplay Nkunku's potential in the striking position, per se. The man has been prolific for two years. He is devastating on the counter-attack thanks to his blistering acceleration, but he's best when other players set the scene for him, dragging defenders out of position or putting the seed of doubt in their mind.

Moving to a Pochettino-style system could be unsettling. Pochettino's Southampton and Spurs by were characterised by relentless running.

This is not the Leipzig way. The club often cover among the least ground in the Bundesliga, and Nkunku himself has covered less than 9km per game in the last three seasons, at least a kilometre below the Premier League average. That's not to doubt his effort, but should Pochettino ratchet up the pressure it could be hard.

Compared to other Bundesliga players of his position, he ranks in the bottom percentile for tackles, dribbles challenged, and blocks, suggesting his defensive contributions are lacking.

That said, he might embody a trait that Pochettino has consistently struggled to get out of his soldiers: being a 'big game' player.

A hat-trick in a 6-3 Champions League defeat at Manchester City in September 2021 announced him to Europe as somebody who can be a shining light even when his team-mates are struggling. In 2021/22, he scored 11 in 12 European assignments.

And the 10-time France international brought winning ways to RB Leipzig, scoring in the domestic cup final two years in a row to help them to secure some silverware.

Without a doubt, he progressed the club in his four years there and Bayern Munich were among his most vulnerable prey, conceding eight on his watch.

It's that quality to drive a team that makes the prospect of Nkunku at Chelsea so exciting. His era in Deutschland has been one of maturity. Maturity for him and for his club. A darling of the PSG academy became a figurehead in Leipzig.

'I have developed as a footballer here, but also off the pitch too. I became a father here,' he told RB Leipzig club media.

'To the fans, it’s hard for me to find the right words for what I think and feel, but I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart, because without you I could never have achieved what I have achieved here.'

Now the real test begins in the crucible of Stamford Bridge. Soon we will know if the decision to leave his treasured PSG in 2019 has paid off, that decision to leave a packed stable of talent to carve his own route to greatness.