Nkunku, from flop to Champions League man: will Milan remove him from the market?

If Sunday’s will really be his last last dance at the Rossoneri, it’s something that doesn’t depend only on him. But he can do his part to make the horizon change color further. If up until a month ago there were large clouds full of rain in the sky above Christopher Nkunku, in recent times the atmospheric pressure has risen. And maybe we could even glimpse a bit of blue again. In practical terms, Christo still has a chance to close the season leaving good feelings in everyone’s eyes. And this is what depends on him, What is in his power.

yield

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The rest flows through channels he cannot control, full of question marks. For example, the name of the sporting director ’26-27, as well as that of the CEO and, although to a much lesser extent, also that of the coach. The basic problem does not concern the absolute value of the player: 37 million in price is anything but blasphemous for a striker with his qualities. The problem is simply linked to seasonal performance. There are alibis, of course. The biggest of all is his arrival at Milanello last summer after missing all of his summer training with Chelsea, who had placed him on the fringes of the squad. Secondly, a fairly relative trust granted by Allegri, who certainly could have put more minutes into his legs. That said, the overall performance still wasn’t up to par. The Frenchman alternated decidedly interesting moments with others without leaving a trace. In other words, aside from a handful of appearances, he has always been considered a reservist. Even if Leao continued to fail, Gimenez failed to score and Pulisic struggled.

coldness

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The change of pace came towards the end against Atalanta at San Siro. Terrible evening in collective terms, decidedly encouraging in personal terms. There was a feeling that if they had played for another five minutes, Nkunku would have managed to win the match on his own. A basis that was confirmed at Marassi, where it largely contributed to the three vital points to get back on the right path towards the Champions League. He earned the penalty with excellent intuition and then converted it with the coolness of an attacker who knows how to handle the pressure. If football had coherence – but most of the time it doesn’t – it would be up to him to complete the job to bring Milan back to the Champions League. With Cagliari you need to win, unless you want to spend Sunday evening worrying about depending on other people’s results. And at that point, if the Frenchman proves to be decisive also in the last act, the club could also be forced to review its plans, which currently see him among the transferables. Leao’s future is another important variable, since they have certain gameplay aspects in common. With Rafa saying goodbye, it would no longer be so automatic to say goodbye to Christopher too.