Christopher Nkunku has packed at least one red balloon for the trip to Freiburg. Maybe two or three, better safe than sorry. Who knows how many goals the Frenchman will score in the DFB-Pokal semi-final at SC this Tuesday (20:45 CET in the F.A.Z. live ticker for the DFB-Pokal, on ZDF and Sky)? The only thing that is certain is that Nkunku wants to blow up a balloon after every hit. To greet his little son. He sits at home on the couch and watches his dad from there.
Soon the Nkunku family will leave Leipzig, the moving boxes are already ready. Marco Rose revealed that last weekend after Nkunku scored the decisive goal to make it 1-0 against TSG Hoffenheim. Afterwards, the RB Leipzig coach said: "That should give him a boost for his last weeks together with us".
As revealing as Rose's words seemed at first, they were not a surprise. Rather, they were only a confirmation of what had been suspected for months anyway. The France international is leaving RB. In all likelihood, he will move to London to Chelsea FC, and a transfer fee of around 60 million euros is being discussed.
What will become of Olmo and Gvardiol?
Nkunku's farewell tour officially begins with two performances in Freiburg. After the cup semi-finals, the two teams will meet again at the same venue on Saturday (15:30 CET in the F.A.Z. live ticker for the Bundesliga and on Sky). Then it's about important points in the fight for qualification for the Champions League. Freiburg are currently two points ahead of RB. As fifth in the table, Leipzig must make up one place in order to be able to take part in the most important European competition again next year.
The outcome of the two games in Freiburg will be decisive in determining whether Nkunku will join other highly gifted players and leave Leipzig in an unknown direction. In the case of Dani Olmo, it is well known that, in addition to a generous salary, the sporting perspective is particularly important to him. The Spaniard's ambition includes participation in the Champions League and winning trophies. Olmo wants to win titles, if not in Leipzig, then somewhere else.
It's the same in the case of Josko Gvardiol, who has attracted the interest of various top clubs from England with his strong performances. That's the crux of Leipzig's business model. RB may now be a recognized stopover for top international talent. If the successes fail to materialize, however, these players will be drawn away faster than Leipzig's sporting director Max Eberl would like.
Eberl and his helping hand Rouven Schröder can't complain about a lack of employment anyway. They are forced to moderate a major sporting upheaval, perhaps the biggest ever since Leipzig joined the Bundesliga. Nkunku's farewell is certain, and Konrad Laimer's farewell to FC Bayern is likely to be announced soon.
Should Olmo and Gvardiol follow, RB would lose its four highest-quality football players at once. In order for there to be a residual hope, at least in the case of the latter two, Leipzig needs goals. And balloons. For inflating. For Christopher Nkunku.