Chelsea could be stuck in Raheem Sterling situation with another wantaway attacker | OneFootball

German transfer insider Florian Plettenberg Tweeted last night that attacker Christopher Nkunku “will leave Chelsea this summer,” with a decision having been made by the club to move on from the France attacker.

He claimed that Bayern are monitoring the situation of the attacker, and are “in contact with his management”, and that “other top clubs” are interested in the former RB Leipzig man.

The most important detail, however was possible that “a permanent transfer is planned” rather than a loan.

Chelsea playing with fire once again over loan vs. transfer

Florian Plettenberg’s Tweet about Christopher Nkunku, claiming the attacker “will leave Chelsea this summer”

That’s all well and good, but as we’ve seen several times in recent years, it’s not always that easy. The likes of Kepa Arrizabalaga, Romelu Lukaku and Raheem Sterling last summer were all players for whom a permanent transfer was planned, before the realities of the market meant that by the end of the summer Chelsea were forced to accept a late loan out.

It doesn’t help anyone, but if Enzo Maresca’s team are going to hold out for big money for the striker, they know they could end up with no takers. It’s always a tough balance to strike – to accept less than you want for a permanent deal, or hold your nerve. More often than not, your bluff gets called, and you end up green lighting the loan you said you wouldn’t rather than have an unhappy, unwanted player in your squad for a year.

Chelsea need to build interest to force buyers’ hands

Lukaku is gone, but Kepa and Sterling are still rattling around, living reminders of the dangers of playing hard-ball with other clubs. Ruthless operators like Bayern aren’t going to be pushed into buying a player they’re not sure about, especially if there doesn’t seem much of a market for him.