£53m superstar reportedly signs Chelsea pre-contract, years after Arsenal had £17m chance

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Christopher Nkunku is heading for Chelsea in a huge deal that will simply leave Arsenal kicking themselves for not signing him.

The Blues spent massively over the summer by snapping up Wesley Fofana, Marc Cucurella, Raheem Sterling and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

Just when you thought Todd Boehly’s spending spree was over, Chelsea then forked out big cash to prise Graham Potter and his staff away from Brighton and Hove Albion.

Boehly has shown that he is willing to strike big deals and another one appears to be on the horizon with a move for RB Leipzig superstar Nkunku.

Christopher Nkunku is heading for Chelsea

The Athletic’s David Ornstein reports that Nkunku has signed a pre-contract agreement to join Chelsea and the Blues will pay above his £53million release clause.

That clause only comes into effect next summer so Chelsea are paying a premium to get a deal done in advance, just as Liverpool did with Naby Keita.

Nkunku’s deal appears to be done and dusted with Chelsea preparing to unleash the Frenchman on the Premier League from next season and beyond.

Other Premier League clubs may wish they had Nkunku lined up but this deal may upset Arsenal a little more than most.

The Gunners previously held an interest in signing Nkunku under Unai Emery, who was in charge of Paris Saint-Germain when Nkunku emerged there.

Arsenal looked into signing Nkunku in January 2019 but ended up taking Denis Suarez on one of the most forgettable loan spells ever instead.

Arsenal returned for Nkunku in the summer and were quoted around £17million but chose not to pull the trigger, signing Dani Ceballos on loan instead.

Nkunku ended up joining RB Leipzig instead and Arsenal have watched him become a star over in Germany.

35 goals and 20 assists across all competitions last season was simply ridiculous from Nkunku and he has now made himself into a real Swiss army knife in attack, able to be used in so many different roles.

Chelsea will now be able to harness that versatility to devastating effect and Arsenal will be left thinking what could have been had they just paid the £17million three-and-a-half years ago.