Christopher Nkunku may have missed a glorious chance at the end of the 1-1 draw against Nottingham Forest last weekend, but the Frenchman has been one of Chelsea's most in-form players this season, to a point.
The 26-year-old, who has netted seven times in 11 appearances for the Blues in 2024/2025, scored his first goal for France during their resounding 4-1 win over Israel on Thursday night.
A well-worked team move resulted in Nkunku with the ball at his feet and his back to goal on the edge of the area. In an instant, the ex-RB Leipzig forward managed to spin past three Israel defenders thanks to his clever Cruyff turn, before he prodded the ball into a yard of space, then finishing from a tight angle.
That marked Nkunku's maiden international goal in his 11th cap for France. It was also his eighth goal in 12 outings for club and country this term, which includes a hat-trick against Barrow in the Carabao Cup and a late winner in the Premier League at Bournemouth. Alongside that, Nkunku struck twice in two Europa Conference League play-off matches against Servette, while finding the net in the 4-2 success over Genk.
Considering Nkunku has started just six of those matches, it's a remarkable record. The Frenchman has been in and out of the XI under Enzo Maresca, and faces stern competition for his place. Chelsea are not short of quality across their front-line, with Nkunku among a number of elite operators.
While Nkunku has admitted he doesn't have a preferred position, he has played most of his football this season as the centre forward. Right now, Chelsea's preferred No.9 is Nicolas Jackson, there is no doubt about it.
The Senegal international has started in each of their opening seven Premier League matches, scoring four goals and adding three assists. Although that doesn't look like a bad total, Jackson should have scored more. In fact, he has missed four big chances this season - the fourth highest across the top-flight.
It's argued - in some quarters of the Chelsea fanbase - that Nkunku is a better finisher and should replace Jackson as their first-choice centre forward. Regardless of whether Maresca decides to make that switch, having two elite level strikers at his disposal is a luxury and a positive problem to have.
There's no doubt that Nkunku is excellent, but finding a route for him into the Chelsea starting line up on a regular basis is going to be difficult, but Maresca has someone in his squad that can come in and do a similar, if not better, job than those ahead of him. That's something that can boost the already revived Blues this season.
Chelsea ended the 2023/24 Premier League season on a high, but it is never quiet at Stamford Bridge and the summer looks set to be one full of news, with question marks over Mauricio Pochettino's future at the club and plenty of talk around transfers.
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