Christopher Alan Nkunku (born 14 November 1997) is a French professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

second striker In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than midfielders and defenders. As with any attacking player, the role of the forward relies heavily on bein ...

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

for club Chelsea and the

France national team France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. He is known for his versatility, pace and goal-scoring ability Nkunku is a graduate of the

Paris Saint-Germain Academy The Paris Saint-Germain FC Youth Academy () is the youth system of both Paris Saint-Germain FC, Paris Saint-Germain's male and Paris Saint-Germain FC (women), female teams. Managed by the Association Paris Saint-Germain, the men's section of ...

and made his professional debut for the club in December 2015. He made 78 appearances for them and won three

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

titles, the

Coupe de France The Coupe de France (), also known in English language, English as the French Cup or less commonly as the France Cup, is the premier Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in French football organised by the French Football Fed ...

twice and the

Coupe de la Ligue The Coupe de la Ligue (), known outside France as the French League Cup, was a knockout cup competition in French football organized by the Ligue de Football Professionnel. The tournament was established in 1993 and, unlike the Coupe de France ...

twice. Nkunku joined German side

RB Leipzig RasenBallsport Leipzig e.V. (), commonly known as RB Leipzig or informally as Red Bull Leipzig, is a German professional association football, football club based in Leipzig, Saxony. The club was founded in 2009 by the initiative of the company ...

in July 2019, with whom he scored 70 goals in 172 appearances over four seasons and won the

DFB-Pokal The DFB-Pokal (), also known as the German Cup in English language, English, is a German knockout Association football, football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competiti ...

twice. He was named the Bundesliga Player of the Season in the 2021–22 campaign and was the league's top scorer the following season. Nkunku was signed by Chelsea in 2023 for £52 million. Nkunku represented France at multiple youth international levels, before making his debut for the senior national team in March 2022.

Early life

Christopher Alan Nkunku was born on 14 November 1997 in

Lagny-sur-Marne Lagny-sur-Marne (, literally ''Lagny on Marne'') is a commune in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located in the Seine-et-Marne department in Île-de-France from the centre of Paris (20 minutes away from the centre of Paris). The ...

, Seine-et-Marne. He went to El Francis Assis Secondary school and he began playing football with AS Marolles as a six-year-old. In 2009, he joined

Fontainebleau Fontainebleau ( , , ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Functional area (France), metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is located south-southeast of the Kilometre zero#France, centre of Paris. Fontainebleau is a Subprefectures in Franc ...

, where he was spotted by scouts of several professional clubs. Despite his young age and childlike physique, he was noted for "his speed, his technique and his vision of the game", as recalled by Norbert Boj in 2020, former head of the Fontainebleau football school. He would line up in all positions across the

midfield In many sports, midfield is the part of a sports field that is near the line that is equally far from the end lines. That is, in American football it is the part of the field near the 50-yard line; in association football (soccer) and field hoc ...

, a versatility he, according to another coach at the club, owed to his "technical prowess, obviously, but especially his intelligence of play". Due to being considered too young and light, Nkunku was not signed by

Lens A lens is a transmissive optical device that focuses or disperses a light beam by means of refraction. A simple lens consists of a single piece of transparent material, while a compound lens consists of several simple lenses (''elements'') ...

Le Havre Le Havre is a major port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy (administrative region), Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the Seine, river Seine on the English Channel, Channe ...

and

Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...

; clubs where he had been on trials. He eventually signed with

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club, commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain () or simply PSG, is a French professional Association football, football club based in Paris. They compete in Ligue 1, the French football league system, top d ...

, where he was able to progress through the youth sides of

INF Clairefontaine The INF Clairefontaine (), known as INF or simply Clairefontaine, is the national football centre that specialises in training French football players. The INF Clairefontaine is a section of the CNF Clairefontaine. The academy is one of sixtee ...

at U15-level. Spending the weekdays at Clairefontaine and playing only on weekends with Paris Saint-Germain, he made the permanent move to the French powerhouse at the age of fifteen.

Club career

Paris Saint-Germain

Nkunku joined the Paris Saint-Germain youth system in 2010. He was a member of the youth team who were runners-up in the

2015–16 UEFA Youth League The 2015–16 UEFA Youth League was the third season of the UEFA Youth League, a European youth club football competition organised by UEFA. After a two-year trial period, the UEFA Youth League became a permanent UEFA competition starting from th ...

. He made his professional debut at the age of 18 on 8 December 2015, in a

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

match against

Shakhtar Donetsk Football Club Shakhtar Donetsk () is a Ukrainian professional Association football, football club that was based in the city of Donetsk until 2014 when, due to the War in Donbas (2014–2022), War in Donbas, the club was forced to move to Lvi ...

, replacing

Lucas Moura Lucas Rodrigues Moura da Silva (born 13 August 1992), known as Lucas Moura (), is a Brazilian professional association football, footballer who plays as a Winger (association football), winger or Midfielder (association football), attacking midf ...

after 87 minutes in a 2–0 home win. He scored his first professional goal in a 7–0 home win against

Bastia Bastia ( , , , ; ) is a communes of France, commune in the Departments of France, department of Haute-Corse, Corsica, France. It is located in the northeast of the island of Corsica at the base of Cap Corse. It also has the second-highest popu ...

in the

on 7 January 2017. On 10 March 2018, he scored his first brace as a professional, in a 5–0 win against

Metz Metz ( , , , then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle (river), Moselle and the Seille (Moselle), Seille rivers. Metz is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Moselle (department), Moselle Departments ...

RB Leipzig

On 18 July 2019,

announced Nkunku's signing on a five-year deal for an approximate €13 million transfer fee plus bonuses. He made his debut for the club on 11 August in a

match against

VfL Osnabrück VfL Osnabrück is a German multi-sport club in Osnabrück, Lower Saxony. It currently fields teams in basketball, gymnastics, swimming, table tennis, and tennis but is by far best known for its Association football, football section. The footba ...

, which ended in a 3–2 victory. His

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

debut followed a week later, scoring his first competitive goal on the first matchday of the 2019–20 season in a 4–0 win over regional rivals

Union Berlin 1. Fußballclub Union Berlin e. V., commonly known as Union Berlin (), is a professional Football in Germany, German football club based in Berlin. The club's origins can be traced to 1906, when its predecessor FC Olympia Oberschöneweide was fo ...

. On 22 February 2020, Nkunku provided four assists in a 5–0 victory over

Schalke 04 Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as Schalke 04 (), and abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional sports club from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its football team, w ...

. In doing so, he became just the second player in recent Bundesliga history to register four assists in a single match, after

Szabolcs Huszti Szabolcs Huszti (; born 18 April 1983) is a Hungarian professional football coach and a former player. He is the de facto manager of Fehérvár, even though Gábor Toldi formally holds that position. He was well known for his dribbling, pace, p ...

in 2012.

On 15 September 2021, Nkunku scored a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

for Leipzig in their 6–3 defeat to

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

in a

2021–22 UEFA Champions League group stage The 2021–22 UEFA Champions League group stage began on 14 September 2021 and ended on 9 December 2021. A total of 32 teams competed in the group stage to decide the 16 places in the 2021–22 UEFA Champions League knockout phase, knockout phase ...

match. He was the first player in the club's history to score a hat-trick in the

. In May 2022, he won the 2021–22 Bundesliga Player of the Season award after scoring 20 times and assisting 13 goals in 34 league games. In the 2022–23 season, he scored 16 goals in the league to finish as joint top scorer along with

Niclas Füllkrug Niclas Füllkrug (born 9 February 1993) is a German professional footballer who plays as a forward for Premier League club West Ham United and the Germany national team. A Werder Bremen youth star, Füllkrug started his senior career with the ...

Chelsea

On 20 June 2023, Nkunku signed for

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

club Chelsea on a six-year deal starting on 1 July 2023. The transfer fee was reported to be £52 million. On 8 August, it was announced that he had undergone surgery for a knee injury sustained during a pre-season match and would be out for an extended period, thereby missing the start of the season. He finally made his debut on 19 December 2023 against

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

in the quarter-finals of the

EFL Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

, scoring a penalty in the 4–2 shoot-out win after the match finished 1–1. Five days later, he made his Premier League debut away at

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...

, coming off the bench during the second half and scoring a late goal in a 2–1 defeat for Chelsea. On 31 January 2024, he scored again against

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

in a 4–1 loss at Anfield. On 24 September, Nkunku scored a hat-trick against

EFL League Two The English Football League Two, simply known as League Two and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Betting & Gaming, Sky Bet League Two, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League Two is the fourth division of the English ...

side

Barrow A.F.C. Barrow Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England. The club competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Having initially played in the Lancashi ...

in the third round of the

, helping the Blues to a 5–0 victory.

Style of play

Nkunku is known for his 1v1 abilities due to his incredible dribbling skills and burst of pace which enable opportunities for him to separate from his mark with space to look for a pass or shot. He is a right-footed attacker who can play centrally or out wide.

International career

Nkunku was born in France and is of

Congolese Congolese or Kongolese may refer to: African peoples * Congolese people (disambiguation) * Kongo people, a Bantu ethnic group who live along the Atlantic coast of Africa from Pointe-Noire (Republic of Congo) to Luanda, Angola, primarily defined by ...

descent. He was a French youth international, representing the country at under-16, under-19, under-20 and under-21 levels. He made three appearances for the under-20 team at the

2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the 21st edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, the biennial international men's youth football championship contested by the under-20 national teams of the member associations of FIFA, since its inception in 1977 a ...

. Nkunku was called up to the senior

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

squad for the first time for friendly matches against

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest List of ci ...

and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

on 25 and 29 March 2022, respectively. He made his debut as a starter in the game against Ivory Coast. On 9 November 2022, he was named in the 25-man French squad for the

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup was the 22nd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

in Qatar. On 15 November, he sustained a knee injury after colliding with

Eduardo Camavinga Eduardo Celmi Camavinga (born 10 November 2002) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder or left back for La Liga club Real Madrid. Born in Angola, he plays for the France national team. Camavinga began his career in Ligue 1 with ...

during training at Clairefontaine, which forced him to drop out prior to the competition. On 10 October 2024, he scored his first goal for the national team in a 4–1 away win against

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list France's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Nkunku goal''

Honours

Paris Saint-Germain *

: 2015–16, 2017–18, 2018–19 *

: 2016–17, 2017–18 *

Trophée des Champions The Trophée des Champions (, ) is a French association football trophy contested in an annual match between the champions of Ligue 1 and the winners of the Coupe de France. It is equivalent to the Super cup, super cups found in many other count ...

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

RB Leipzig *

: 2021–22,

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

, runner up:

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

Chelsea *

UEFA Conference League The UEFA Conference League (UECL), usually known simply as the Conference League, is an annual football competition organised since 2021 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It is the thir ...

: 2024–25 *

runner-up: 2023–24 Individual *

Footballer of the Year in Germany The title Footballer of the Year (German: ''Fußballer des Jahres'') has been awarded in West Germany from 1960 to 1990 and Germany since 1991. Eligible are German players as well as non-German players playing in Germany. In 1996, the title W ...

: 2022 * Bundesliga top goalscorer:

(shared) *

Player of the Season: 2021–22 *Bundesliga Team of the Season: 2021–22 * VDV Bundesliga Player of the Season: 2021–22 * VDV Bundesliga Team of the Season: 2021–22 *''

kicker Kicker or The Kicker may refer to: Sports * Placekicker, a position in American and Canadian football * ''Kicker'' (magazine), sports magazine in Germany * Kicker, the German colloquial term for an association football player * Kicker, the wor ...

'' Bundesliga Team of the Season: 2021–22,

*Bundesliga Player of the Month: October 2021, February 2022, March 2022, April 2022 *

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

Team of the Season: 2021–22

References

External links

Profile
at the Chelsea F.C. website * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nkunku, Christopher 1997 births Living people Sportspeople from Lagny-sur-Marne Footballers from Seine-et-Marne French men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Men's association football forwards RCP Fontainebleau players Paris Saint-Germain FC players RB Leipzig players Chelsea F.C. players UEFA Conference League–winning players Championnat National 2 players Ligue 1 players Bundesliga players Premier League players France men's international footballers France men's youth international footballers France men's under-21 international footballers French expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Germany French expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in England French expatriate sportspeople in England Black French sportspeople French sportspeople of Democratic Republic of the Congo descent 21st-century French sportsmen