Nkunku's Future: Newcastle vs RB Leipzig
Christopher Nkunku’s time at Milan looks over almost before it began, and the battle for his signature is already taking shape on two very different fronts.
On one side stand Newcastle United, armed with the strongest proposal to Milan. On the other, RB Leipzig – the club where Nkunku played the best football of his career and, crucially, the destination he is pushing for.
Frozen out at Milan
Nkunku is no longer in Ruben Amorim’s plans. The Frenchman has been excluded from the squad, left without even a shirt number for the new season. For a player who arrived only a year ago in a deal worth €37m plus add-ons from Chelsea, the fall has been swift and brutal.
He did not completely disappear on the pitch last season: eight goals and three assists in 35 competitive games is a respectable return. But it was not enough to convince Milan’s new coach, and the message from the club is clear – he is on the market.
Newcastle’s money vs Leipzig’s pull
Transfer specialist Fabrizio Romano reports that both Newcastle United and RB Leipzig are in direct contact with Milan. Talks are active, but no agreement is close yet.
Italian outlet Calciomercato and Milan reporter Daniele Longo add the key detail: Newcastle have put forward the most favourable terms to Milan. The Premier League club are reportedly ready to offer around €30m for the France international, a significant bid for a player coming off an uneven spell in England and Italy.
Nkunku, though, is leaning the other way.
He wants Leipzig.
Chasing the Leipzig version of Nkunku
It is not hard to see why. Between 2019 and 2023 at RB Leipzig, Nkunku was electric. In 172 games for the German side, he produced 70 goals and 56 assists, numbers that turned him into one of Europe’s most dangerous and versatile attackers.
That period earned him his big-money switch to Chelsea in the summer of 2023 for around €60m. His form never truly carried over to London. The momentum he had built in the Bundesliga faded, and it has not properly returned since.
Now, with Milan ready to move him on and Newcastle pushing hardest financially, the story hinges on one question: who wins – the club with the best offer, or the club with the best memories?
