CHRISTOPHER NKUNKU — Player Analysis
Time to talk about my favourite player in the last few years, Christopher Nkunku. A young Frenchman who’s been a pleasure to watch and who I rate very highly. And who’s enjoying a magical start of the season, with 8 goals and 1 assist in the last 5 games, including a hat-trick against Manchester City in the Etihad.
Born in Lagny-sur-Mame, France, on 14/11/1997, Christo joined the PSG academy in 2010, after a few years playing for smaller clubs AS Marolles and Fontainebleau. He proceeded to make his debut in 2015 and collect 78 appearances for PSG’s first team. Then, in July 2019, RB Leipzig announced his signing, in what has proven to be a very successful deal for both player and club.
Nkunku is a very versatile player, capable of playing in a variety of positions, from 8 to false 9, and it’s difficult to define him in this sense. He started this season playing as a winger in a 4–2–3–1 structure, but after an unstable sequence, Leipzig’s new head coach Jesse Marsch changed systems, varying between a 3–4–2–1 and 3–4–1–2, fitting him as an attacking midfielder or a second striker.
Not to mention the wide range of positions in which he played under previous boss Julian Nagelsmann, who does like to tinker with formations quite a bit. According to The Athletic, Nagelsmann used him in eight different roles last season. These are his Sofascore heatmaps for the last and the current Bundesliga seasons, respectively:
Speaking of last season, here are his percentile ranks for the 20/21 Bundesliga. First compared to attacking midfielders and wingers (All stats per 90. Data from FBRef, as in most of this piece):
And now to forwards:
Quite impressive, huh? Let’s dive deeper into his game then. From now on I will be only focusing on his numbers compared to attacking midfielders and wingers, as that’s where he is playing most of the time.
First, the part of his game that previously seemed a bit behind and has been attracting the most attention this season: goalscoring. Above you can see that he wasn’t really prolific, even though he was getting in good positions to score. This season though, it seems he has found that goalscoring vein, as Christo is Leipzig’s top scorer in 21/22 with 9 goals scored in 10 matches played so far. The players closest to him are Dominik Szoboszlai and Amadou Haidara with 3 each. In fact, his 9 goals make up almost 40% of his team’s goals this season. (He’s also joint second in the squad for most assists by the way).
With 0.62 non-penalty goals and 0.5 npxG in the current Bundesliga, he is also in the 94th and 91st percentiles respectively for attacking midfielders and wingers in Europe’s top 5 leagues in the last 365 days. This is how he ranks this season:
A previous xG underperformer, Nkunku is now overperforming his expected goals, showing nice improvement in his finishing. As seen above, he has been constantly getting in great positions to score for quite some time but he was not so steady in actually scoring. Now, that does not seem to be a problem anymore as he is overperforming his 4.2 xG with 9 goals across all competitions. Maintaining this is a characteristic that the great goalscorers possess, as they consistently overperform their xG, being great finishers. It remains to be seen if he will be able to keep this up, but this might be the last step for him to reach the very top of the game. An already elite creator who could also become a goalscorer.
So how does Christo scores his goals? Runs, essentially. This season he scored two headers against Man. City and a free kick against Hertha, but most of his goals, and shots, come after penetrating runs. He’s just superb at it. And very dangerous. He excels at finding space and exploiting it with his runs. And it happens in diverse situations. In counterattacks, in the build up phase against higher lines, attacking a low block, etc. The fact is: he is constantly looking for them. And when a pass comes… beware. Which fits perfectly into Jesse Marsch’s very transition-based approach. And this is one of his greatest assets: he’s got excellent positioning and very smart movements, consistently and, rather easily, dismarking himself and showing up in great positions. Thus enlarging his xG, as mentioned before. So the opportunities will keep coming his way, thanks to his elite movements, and if he continues finishing them well, the goals will keep coming too. He has reportedly been putting in some extra training hours to improve his finishing, so this is not just random at all, and one can trust him to keep up the good work.
His quality movements and positioning also lead to him being one of the players with the most progressive passes received per 90 in the top 5 leagues (in his position):
To highlight how important this is, I’ll once again bring up the Where Goals Come From project, from Carl Carpenter and Jamon Moore at American Soccer Analysis. Observing different leagues across the globe, they found out that about 40% of goals tend to come from progressive passes. Their definition of progressive pass being: “a completed open-play pass that moves at least 25% closer to the goal from its origin”.They’ve also found out a strong correlation between progressive passes per game, goals per game and points per game. Thus, movements, collective or individual, to enable these passes are paramount. And Nkunku is making them aplenty and with quality. Furthermore, the graph above shows how he is also among the att. midfielders/wingers with the most touches inside the attacking penalty area per 90, showing how he’s been getting close to goal, making runs into the box and receiving the ball there. And this is essential to have good scoring chances.
He is also quite good at shots from the outside the box (and sensible enough to not try them too often) and at taking free kicks.
Another elite side of his game is chance creation. Christo is not only outstanding at fomenting scoring chances for himself, but he also excels at creating them for others. And in this area, he’s been consistent for years. In the Bundesliga, for reference, he’s in the 95th percentile for expected assists per 90 this season, and finished in the 97th and 98th in 2020/21 and 2019/20, respectively. While in the top 5 leagues he’s in the 93rd percentile for the last 365 days.
In this area, his presence in, and runs into, the box also help a lot. With cut-back passes following forward runs and quick combinations inside the penalty area, he provides dangerous opportunities for his teammates. But his influence also comes from outside the box. Nkunku is very mobile and shows up across the whole attacking third. He likes to drop and link up with midfielders and is capable of providing superb killer passes from behind. He enjoys top vision and decision-making ability, beyond his young years, spotting teammates in good positions and calmly making the right choice. He’s a very good passer too, of course, with very precise deliveries. This nice array of qualities is fundamental in Leipzig’s attacking phase, making him their most dangerous and influential creator. Now, look how he ranks for passes into the penalty area and shot-creating passes per 90 in the big 5 leagues:
Once again close to the top. But it goes beyond passes. His dribbles and carries can also generate important chances. He’s a very good dribbler and carrier, enjoying top ball control and great agility, making him quite press resistant and capable of smoothly evading markers. Not to mention his pace, as he’s quite fast too and enjoys a high acceleration, able to beat defenders at speed too. Thus, he is not only dangerous in tight spaces but also in open spaces, a huge attacking asset for die Roten Bullen, capable of generating danger from virtually any situation. Still concerning his carries, this is how he compares to other top 5 leagues players for progressive carries and carries into the attacking penalty area per 90:
So, he’s not only dangerous penetrating the box without the ball, but also with it. And he offers a high volume of both types of actions. Now to highlight how good of a dribbler he is, here’s how he ranks for attempted dribbles per 90 and dribbling success rate:
Not really an outlier in this case, but still very good.
Moreover, he’s a great set-piece taker and creates opportunities this way too, be it from corners or free kicks.
To sum it up, regarding his influence in generating goals, here’s an interesting graph, showing how he ranks in the top 5 leagues for non-penalty expected goals + expected assists and goal-creating actions per 90:
Absolutely first-class.
Still, concerning his passes and carries, it’s interesting how to portray his influence in ball progression too:
Among the most high-volume progressive passers and carriers. It’s not restricted to the attacking phase, as Christo often drops into midfield to link up and help progress the ball in the build up phase, offering very high-quality actions, once again displaying great vision, decision-making and technique. The same goes for transitions, where all this range of qualities, not to mention his impressive reaction speed, make him a superb asset in counterattacks, executing Marsch’s “fucking play forward” ideas with tremendous efficiency. So we’re talking of a guy who’s a goalscorer, a creator and a progressor.
Before moving on to the defensive part, there are two other points worth mentioning. First, another side of his physicality. He’s not really robust at all but has put on some muscle this season, after reportedly having started working with a personal trainer, and has added strength to his game as well, helping him win more duels and shield the ball more effectively. Second, his aerial contribution. He’s not really tall either, standing at 175cm, but his smart movements and posioniting, combined with a decent heading technique, make him a threat at the end of crosses too, as Man. City learned. He’s currently in the 84th percentile for aerial duels won per 90 and in the 80th for aerial duels success rate in the top 5 leagues. While in the 20/21 Bundesliga, he finished at 85th and 94th respectively. Another interesting quality of his.
And even another one, is his defensive contribution. Always willing to put on the defensive efforts expected of him, Nkunku is a great fit for the Red Bull high pressing style. And he’s a very good presser too, besides being a high-volume one, which helps Leipzig’ very intense press a lot. This is how he compares to other big 5 leagues players for pressures in the attacking third per 90 and pressure success rate:
Underlining the high volume, high-efficiency point. Moreover, his tracking back efforts are important too, always working hard in every phase of the game. This, and his top reaction speed, make him great at defensive transitions too, be it to countrerpress or track back.
Finally, his psychological profile is worth praise too. Besides, being a very hard worker, he is also a very calm and composed player, who does not seem affected by pressure, be it in big matches or crucial situations. In fact, he thrives in them. And in this interview with First Time Finish, Franck Plaine, a former youth coach of his, comments on how important enjoying the game is to Christo. He wants to have fun, and that certainly translates into how much of an entertaining player he is. Besides, Franck gave two quotes worth mentioning:
“He was always so elegant on the ball. But you would not have to repeat instructions as he was a quick learner. These boys have a maturity and a capacity to learn and express.”
“Everything he did on the ball was quick. Quick compared to all the others. Yet it always looked for him to be easy.”
Which point to massive cognitive gifts to accompany his mature and sensible mind. A brain beyond his age.
So, Christopher Nkunku is the complete package. He’s got everything. And it’s not just me saying that. To quote Jesse Marsch himself:
“Christo doesn’t have any weaknesses on the pitch. It’s very enjoyable working alongside him. He always listens closely and tries to carry out everything we say as best as possible.”
He’s a brilliant, all-rounded and very unique player, already among the European best, but still one of the most underrated players in the continent. His future looks bright, and an already superb player is set to keep growing and growing until he reaches the very top. And it’s about time the world took notice. Because the time will come, sooner rather than later, when he’ll be just too good for Leipzig and the European giants will come calling. And I hope he makes the best choice then. There have already been reports of talks with Real Madrid, Chelsea and Manchester City regarding his transfer, so the race for his signing next summer should be interesting. For now, sit back and enjoy his brilliant football.
Lucas Barth
