CHELSEA’S bid to include Christopher Nkunku in negotiations to sign Xavi Simons from RB Leipzig is set to fail.
Former Leipzig star Nkunku, 27, is the latest Blues player to be offered as bait as talks continue over Dutch playmaker Simons.
But the France international forward is understood not to be keen on returning to his old club.
And Leipzig would not be able to match Nkunku’s current wages at Stamford Bridge, which reports in Germany claim could be as high as £17million per year.
The Frenchman’s actual salary is believed to be considerably lower yet still beyond Leipzig’s budget.
Sporting director Marcel Schafer is under pressure to slash wage costs by 20 per cent as the Bundlesliga club adjust to the financial reality of not playing in European competition this season.
And Leipzig are for now standing firm on their £60m valuation of Simons.
Agent Ali Barat, who represents Chelsea stars Moises Caicedo and Nicolas Jackson, is working for Simons in his bid to land a move to the Premier League.
Carney Chukwuemeka, Renato Veiga and Tyrique George have all been linked with moves to Leipzig as part of the Simons negotiations.
Swap deals are now rare in football because of financial regulations and the way transfer payments are calculated for accounting purposes.
But in any case Leipzig have so far said “nein, danke” to all proposals they should buy one or more Blues players to help Chelsea fund a separate deal for Simons.
Nkunku is among the big names Chelsea still want to move on before the transfer window closes.
He arrived from Leipzig in the summer of 2023 in a £52m deal after helping the club win the German Cup in what turned out to be his final season there.
But Nkunku picked up a serious knee injury in pre-season that delayed his debut until December.
And he has never established himself as a first-team regular at Stamford Bridge amid a huge turnover of players.
Chelsea have signed Joao Pedro and Liam Delap as centre-forwards this summer for a combined £90m.
Nkunku did travel with the squad to the Club World Cup and made six appearances, scoring once in the Blues’ successful campaign.
But he is even further down the pecking order now following the arrivals of Jamie Gittens and Estevao Willian, who represented former clubs Borussia Dortmund and Palmeiras respectively in the competition in the USA.
And Chelsea still want to add Simons and Manchester United winger Alejandro Garnacho to Enzo Maresca’s attacking options.
Nkunku needs a fresh start and Chelsea want to sell him.
But unless something significant changes, he will not be returning to Leipzig to grease the wheels of a deal for Simons.
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