Christopher Nkunku is back on the transfer list just months after moving from Chelsea to Serie A giants AC Milan.
The French striker signed a five-year deal in August when he joined the Rossoneri for £36million.
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Due to injury following his move from RB Leipzig in 2023, Nkunku was limited to just 11 league starts during his two seasons at Chelsea.
The Blues were happy to sanction Nkunku’s departure as they invested heavily in their frontline, signing Liam Delap, Joao Pedro, Jamie Gittens and Alejandro Garnacho.
The 28-year-old is expected to be back on the move in the new year as uncertainty grows over the player’s future in Italy.
Nkunku has struggled with consistency under Max Allegri this season, having started just five of his 11 league games in the pecking order and finds himself behind Rafael Leao, Santiago Gimenez and Christian Pulisic.
Furthermore, the summer signing has yet to score a league goal for AC Milan, who are also close to signing German striker Niclas Fullkrug on loan from West Ham.
Internal discussions about his role and future at San Siro are reportedly intensifying ahead of the January transfer window.
And European football expert Andy Brassell finds it “really a shame” that Nkunku’s move to Chelsea and then AC Milan didn’t work out.
“It’s a real shame. I think you can put it all down to the time he came to Chelsea with an injury,” Brassell told The Pitch Prospect.com.
“I think most players, or a lot of players, coming into the Premier League need the first six months to get used to the pace and the physicality.”
“You can say the Bundesliga is hectic, but physically it’s not quite on the same level as the Premier League.”
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“So it was always a small leap for him. But it would also be a small leap because he played the main role in Leipzig and everything revolved around him.”
Brassell continued: “That first season was a complete bust and from then on it was a real struggle for him to get regular playing time.”
“I think you can see that from previous examples in the Premier League
Radamel Falcao, the Premier League may be one of the hardest places to get back into shape when you’re out of shape and out of fitness.
“Especially if you’ve never played in it before. It’s really, really difficult.”
Brassell believes Nkunku needs to be sent out on loan in order to gain regular game time for AC Milan and “get some of his money back” for betting on the striker.
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“They can’t afford to lose everything they spent on Nkunku, although Chelsea obviously had to take a significant loss to move him on, which says a lot about what they thought about his future,” Brassell continued.
“But really, I don’t think it’s just limited to Serie A as to who could take him on loan. I wonder if a Bundesliga club would benefit from taking him on loan. We know he’s done great work in the Bundesliga before.”
And with the World Cup on the horizon, Brassell now believes it is “too late” for Nkunku to interfere in Didier Deschamps’ plans, adding: “Too late for the 2026 World Cup? Almost certainly.”
“But at this point he’s 28 and the clock is ticking. He has to get to a point where he can play and give his best.”
Nkunku was part of France’s squad for World Cup qualifiers against Ukraine and Azerbaijan in November, while the AC Milan star featured in both games and started the 3-1 win over Azerbaijan last month.