Chelsea allowing Christopher Nkunku to leave for Bayern Munich makes ZERO sense - the underused forward is one of few truly elite players in the Blues' squad

What will Nkunku's legacy be at Stamford Bridge? It feels incredibly harsh to call him a flop, and there is a sense that - should he leave - this relationship will be over before it's truly been allowed to flourish.

Following a bargain €60 million (£52m/$63m) switch to Chelsea from RB Leipzig in the summer of 2023, a serious injury in preseason just days before competitive action got underway effectively wrote off the first half of the Frenchman's debut campaign.

He wouldn't return until Christmas Eve, scoring on his Premier League bow against Wolves, but another setback in February last year meant he only mustered 14 appearances across 2023-24. Nkunku still managed three goals in just 517 minutes of action, though, which works out at fewer than six full matches.

There was renewed hope that this season would be different after the 27-year-old stayed injury-free in the summer, but Nkunku has been unexpectedly forced out of the picture amid fierce competition for places, with Nicolas Jackson preferred as the central striker and earning the coach's faith with nine goals so far.

The man who many believed would be one of Chelsea's key attacking players has instead had to settle for a starring role in Maresca's 'B team' in the cup competitions, racking up 17 goal involvements in 1,180 minutes (13 full matches) - but just three of those have come in the Premier League.

Nkunku is technically the Blues' joint-highest goal-scorer this season alongside Cole Palmer (13), and there is no doubt that he is one of the club's most potent attacking threats when fit and firing; a deadly penalty box finisher who is also a creative force around it.

But a lack of minutes amid Jackson's form and Maresca's staunch loyalty to the Senegalese striker - even when he's out of sorts - are costing the France international. There have been numerous occasions where Jackson has been playing badly with Nkunku sat on the bench until the final 10-15 minutes, when he has had little time to make an impact. It seems he is running out of patience.

While the first six months of his tenure were drama-free as Chelsea made smooth progress and even pushed into the top two in the Premier League, some cracks are beginning to show as Maresca tries to appease a squad packed full of both talent and big egos.

The arrival of the winter transfer window has certainly caused some underlying unrest to come bubbling to the surface, with a raft of out-of-favour players pushing for a January exit, including Nkunku.

"We have 25 players that all want to play but it is not possible," Maresca said in a press conference this week. "It is impossible [to keep everyone happy] because the ones that are not playing are not going to be happy.

"Our target is to, first of all, to do the best for the club and the team - that means trying to win games. Also, if we can keep players happy, then we are happy but that is not the reality: the players are happy just if they play and if they don't play, then they are not happy.

"If you told me all the players that are not happy, we would be here with 12 players. Our intention is not to move players." Pressed on whether Nkunku had asked to leave or whether his future had even been discussed, the Italian responded: "No."

Last season's injury and his lack of minutes this time around have seen us reach a strange impasse in perceptions of Nkunku; he is not considered to be a star of the team, he could well be deemed expendable and it has arguably been forgotten just how good he is.

Chelsea's €60m capture of the Frenchman 18 months ago was seen as a huge coup - the kind of player the club could build a team around signed for probably around half his true value at the time, courtesy of a release clause.

He arrived at Stamford Bridge off the back of making 32 goal contributions in 36 appearances for RB Leipzig, taking his total statistics with the club to a ridiculous 70 goals and 54 assists in 172 appearances - truly fearsome numbers.

Nkunku has done nothing to suggest he doesn't deserve more opportunities at Stamford Bridge, but it's clear he's not being utilised enough. Alongside Palmer and Moises Caicedo, he is one of few players in the squad who can claim to be truly elite.

As Bayern Munich circle, it would be absolutely no surprise to see him tear it up back in the Bundesliga if he is allowed to leave.

It's feasible that Maresca has already made a judgement call on Nkunku and whether he forms part of his plans. The Italian is clearly not afraid to act on his instincts if he believes a player is not a good fit for his tactical system - something he has been overt about in the case of Ben Chilwell, who is one of those on the periphery.

However, he has been less explicit about why Nkunku is not a regular starter, hinting that he is competing with attacking midfielders Palmer and Joao Felix despite being deployed predominantly as a striker. Granted, there isn't much space for inside forwards in a setup that utilises wingers, but Nkunku is more than capable as an out-and-out centre-forward.

For a player of his quality, you would expect more flexibility to involve him in whatever way possible. Perhaps his age has counted against him, too, with the French attacker an elder statesman in the group at 27 amid Chelsea's laser-focus on youth.

"The only thing I've said since the start is it's difficult to play games with so many attacking players," Maresca said following the FA Cup win over Morecambe. "For me it's quite easy, we have three players that are more or less similar, Joao and Cole and Christo. Joao has played some games, Christo has played, they both played against Ipswich, they both played Southampton and Leicester. In some games we can play with them all together but not every game."

It feels as though that reasoning is no longer satisfactory to Nkunku, who has done enough this season and in years gone by to command a more significant role. You can hardly blame him for demanding more game time in his peak years.

But what are Chelsea's options if Nkunku does walk? With summer signing Marc Guiu still a little raw, the Blues will be left short of viable striker options, and Jackson's recent dip in form should have set alarm bells ringing over his goal-scoring reliability for the remainder of a campaign.

To that end, it has been reported that the Blues are eager to take Bayern youngster Tel in the deal that would see Nkunku head in the opposite direction. On paper, this would be a like-for-like trade; Tel also hails from the suburbs of Paris, he is versatile, technically outstanding and a clinical finisher.

He is, however, eight years his compatriot's junior, which will undoubtedly be attractive to a club hell-bent on building a future-proof squad. The 19-year-old could be an ideal alternative to Jackson and has genuinely world-class potential if he is given the game time to develop - which is seemingly more likely at Stamford Bridge than at the Allianz Arena, where he has mustered just 350 minutes of action this season under Vincent Kompany without troubling the scoreboard.

This could boil down to what Chelsea want to be right now, and where they see themselves in the future; allowing one of their few truly elite players to leave - even if it's in exchange for a player who could become elite - demonstrates a lack of short-term ambition and tactical flexibility.

While perennial European powerhouses Bayern are adding yet another top-quality forward to their arsenal who will make an immediate impact as they chase down the Bundesliga tile, the Blues are willing to let a potential difference-maker leave at a crucial juncture in their own season as they desperately try to claw their way back into the Champions League, taking a gamble on another kid instead.

You certainly cannot begrudge Nkunku wanting to leave as his significant 'B team' contributions are overlooked, but this would feel like a premature exit with his Chelsea story only really just beginning