Pep Guardiola thinks Chelsea are signing an ‘exceptional player’ after Liverpool snubbed him

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Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has hailed Christopher Nkunku ahead of the RB Leipzig star joining Chelsea this summer.

City are back in Champions League action tonight as they host Leipzig in the second leg of their Champions League last 16 clash.

The first leg ended in a 1-1 draw in Germany, meaning City still have some work to do tonight.

Playing at the Etihad Stadium should be a boost, as should the absence of Leipzig superstar Christopher Nkunku.

The Frenchman made his return to action earlier this month after a lengthy injury lay-off, but immediately picked up another injury blow.

Nkunku will miss tonight’s game barring a miraculous recovery and Pep Guardiola is probably delighted with that.

Pep Guardiola hails Chelsea-bound Christopher Nkunku

City beat Leipzig 6-3 in the group stage of last season’s Champions League but Nkunku smashed a superb hat-trick in that game.

The former Paris Saint-Germain talent has been ridiculous in recent times; 17 goals and five assists this season as well as a staggering 35 goals and 20 assists last term.

Guardiola is clearly a big fan of Nkunku and has now hailed the 25-year-old despite his absence from tonight’s game.

Guardiola has told City’s official website that he thinks Nkunku is a truly ‘exceptional player’ and Leipzig remain a threat without him in the team.

“Nkunku is exceptional player but they live this season without him and do it really well without him,” said Guardiola.

Guardiola may be seeing much more of Nkunku in the very near future.

The Telegraph claim that Liverpool were offered the chance to sign Nkunku last summer but Jurgen Klopp and Pepijn Lijnders rejected him.

Liverpool may well live to regret that decision as Nkunku is heading to sign for a Premier League rival.

Sky Germany’s Florian Plettenberg reports that Nkunku will ‘definitely’ join Chelsea this summer in a deal worth around €60million (£53million).

That could be an absolute bargain given Nkunku’s attacking numbers at Leipzig.

Just how Chelsea will jam all these attacking signings into one team remains to be seen, but Nkunku has everything in his locker to shine in the Premier League.

Nkunku could be a real threat to both City and Liverpool for years to come and Guardiola will just be glad he doesn’t have to face him tonight.