Christopher Nkunku has his mind set on returning Chelsea to trophy-winning ways after the club's disappointing 12th-placed finish in the Premier League last term.
The deal that took the young French star to Stamford Bridge has been a long time in the making with Chelsea laying foundations for the transfer last summer before bringing it close to completion in the new year, before the club announced it following the end of the 2022/23 season.
Nkunku arrives after scoring 35 goals in all competitions in 2021/22 when he was named Bundesliga Player of the Season and German PFA Player of the Season, before backing that effort up with a further 23 goals last term - a potency the Blues have lacked in recent times.
There will be pressure for Nkunku to perform upon his arrival, with the Chelsea side set to undergo some transformation, through volume of departures of not incoming transfers. The French international is the club's first confirmed transfer of the summer, following a glut of deals in January.
With significant fees across the board and team that struggled, former caretaker boss Frank Lampard wondered if expectation for youngsters such as Mykhailo Mudryk, Noni Madueke, Benoit Badiashile and Enzo Fernandez arrived too quickly.
"I want to improve in football and I want to win trophies and improve myself also," noted the £53million singing from RB Leipzig.
"We also shouldn’t expect too much of players that have just got here," he added. "Maybe that is part of the story this year of young players coming in and, because of the performance of the team, being expected to make a difference."
At 25, Nkunku has already been through the process and does not plan to hand Mauricio Pochettino the same issue. The PSG product did not quite have the fee to match Mudryk and Co but joined RB Leipzig from French side for a modest fee having played 78 times for the Ligue 1 champions.
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The Blues' addition believes that experience will help him.
He said: "It was not an easy decision to leave Paris, because obviously I had everything in my life there, but I had the support of my family and my friends also. So it was a good step for me to improve in my career and now I’m really happy that I made this choice before and now I’m happy to be here.
"And yeah, for sure it will help me now. I think now I can adapt also quickly and I hope I will do everything to be ready quickly and this experience before in Germany will help me for the future here."
Lampard also highlighted an issue with the number of disillusioned players at Chelsea towards the end of his tenure. The Blues are set to trim their squad down to avoid a repeat of such issues. However, with departures of players such as Jorginho, Mateo Kovacic and possibly the likes of Cesar Azpilicueta and Mason Mount, the Blues have lost some of their leaders.
Nkunku seems to have the correct characteristics to lead by example however.
He explained: "We can say that I am a hard worker. I will give everything for the club, for the fans and to help the team bring some trophies. To give the best of my football. I hope I will make them as happy as I am to be here at this club.
"On the pitch I’m a bit quiet, but I can speak, I can shout also. But I’m very focused on the football and about winning, to do everything right, so I can say I speak with my feet. But it’s important obviously to speak to the boys on the pitch."
