Aston Villa ready Christopher Nkunku transfer: Likely shirt number and wage revealed
Aston Villa have showcased a late summer interest in signing Christopher Nkunku.
After losing 1-0 to Brentford on Saturday (23 August), there is a desperate need for attacking options in Unai Emery’s squad right now.
This comes after the Spaniard once again snubbed Donyell Malen in a Villa shirt, leaving the door open to sign a new forward before the upcoming 1 September transfer deadline.
This has seen exit-bound Chelsea flop Nkunku emerge as a target, with contact made with less than 10 days remaining in the window.
With a deal potentially in the pipeline at Villa Park, there are questions to be answered surrounding Nkunku and a switch to B6.
What shirt number would Christopher Nkunku take at Villa?
With the Premier League campaign already underway, the squad numbers have already been confirmed for the current crop of claret and blue stars.
As a result, the ex-RB Leipzig man would be forced to choose between numbers which are currently vacant in the West Midlands.
Fortunately, this looks likely to suit Nkunku perfectly, as his usual 18 shirt remains vacant after Joe Gauci’s loan departure to Port Vale this summer.
| Season(s) | Club | Squad number |
| 23/24, 24/25, 25/26 | Chelsea FC | 18 |
| 22/23, 21/22, 20/21, 19/20 | RB Leipzig | 18 |
| 18/19 | Paris Saint-Germain | 10 |
| 18/19 | Paris Saint-Germain | 11 |
This would likely be the Frenchman’s first choice for squad number after wearing it for the last seven campaigns.
With that being said, the versatile attacker has also worn 10 and 11 in the past, something which would rely on the sale of Emi Buendia or Ollie Watkins before his signing is complete.
How much would Christopher Nkunku earn at Villa?
There is no hiding away from the SCR concerns that the Villans are facing, which have made any sort of deal difficult this summer.
The work of the B6 club to free up the wage bill has seen Jacob Ramsey, Leon Bailey, Leander Dendoncker, Philippe Coutinho and Alex Moreno all depart.
With that being said, adding Nkunku into the mix may not prove to be the wisest of moves, given his current £195k per week wage at Stamford Bridge.
Unless Chelsea are willing to pay a sizable cut of that salary, it would be interesting to understand the rationale of the deal from a Villa point of view.
Given the current wage structure at Villa Park, this signing would break that unless there was a split with the Blues, something which would certainly represent a bold move by Emery and Co.
Aston Villa players with weekly wages over £100k per week:
- Boubacar Kamara – £150k
- Youri Tielemans – £150k
- Emi Martinez – £150k
- Donyell Malen – £140k
- Amadou Onana – £140k
- Ollie Watkins – £130k
- John McGinn – £120k
- Ian Maatsen – £100k
- Pau Torres – £100k
Making a loanee the highest-paid player at the club could throw off the morale of the squad even further, after it seemingly went through the floor after the Brentford defeat.
It will be interesting to see if this deal can be forced over the line, but more importantly, what that would mean for the finances in the Midlands.
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