Arsenal have made it to the Champions League semifinals this season after embarrassing Real Madrid across both legs, and while they aren’t anywhere near Liverpool in the Premier League title race, there’s a sense that if they can finally nab the right attacking help this summer transfer window, they can reach the summit of the English top flight in 2025/26.
The Gunners didn’t sign a striker last summer after top target Benjamin Sesko wasn’t available. After Kai Havertz’s injury, Mikel Merino has functioned as a makeshift No. 9, and, as Real Madrid can attest, the new center midfield signing has been pretty good in this role, too.
But Arsenal do need a real striker, whether that is Sesko, Viktor Gyokeres, or someone as ambitious as Newcastle’s Alexander Isak or Napoli’s Victor Osimhen. They need goals.
Arsenal are expected to go after Christopher Nkunku in 2025
According to a report from RMC Sport’s Fabrice Hawkins, however, they may be after another No. 9/10 profile who has been a high-profile transfer disappointment for crosstown rivals Chelsea as opposed to an up-and-coming, true fox in the box at the 9.
Per Hawkins, after showing interest in Chelsea forward Christopher Nkunku during the winter transfer window alongside Nkunku’s former Bundesliga rivals Bayern Munich, the Premier League giants are expected to be back in for the Frenchman in the summer 2025 transfer window.
Nkunku has been rumored for an exit from Chelsea throughout the 2024/25 season, and it appears that he and the club have now reached a point of no return in their seemingly ill-fated relationship.
Nkunku has been a disaster at Chelsea
After performing as a Ballon d’Or candidate in the 2021/22 season and winning the DFB Pokal with Leipzig, Nkunku has fallen off a cliff at Chelsea after repeated injury issues and inconsistent performances on the pitch preventing him from breaking into the starting lineup.
Still only 27 years old, Nkunku has obvious talent and would be a technical upgrade for an Arsenal side that could use his profile and versatility, as Nkunku started successfully at literally every attacking position when he was at RB Leipzig. He even scored 16 goals in a season twice as a No. 9 for Leipzig.
But that was in the Bundesliga. Nkunku hasn’t made a difference for Chelsea in the Premier League and may have some similar issues as Havertz, who, however, has been much more useful for Arsenal than the Blues when healthy.
Chelsea paid 60 million euros for Nkunku
Nkunku is worth kicking the tires on if the price is right. Chelsea surely can’t expect to recoup the 60 million euros they paid to Leipzig for the French star, but even if Arsenal do sign him this summer, they still need to invest full price in an actual striker. Nkunku isn’t the solution for that pressing need.
Given how brilliant Nkunku was in the Bundesliga, it’s puzzling how things went very wrong for him at Chelsea. Even the likes of Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo have bounced back this season, but Nkunku, even when healthy, has simply never found a way to click at Stamford Bridge.
The managing editor of The Trivela Effect, Kevin has 15 years of experience in digital media. He covered Real Madrid from 2019-2022 for The Real Champs as a site manager. You can contact him at the site’s official Twitter handle @TrivelaEffect or via the site’s official email thetrivelaeffect@gmail.com.