Chelsea are closing in on their first major signing of the forthcoming summer transfer window, with RB Leipzig star Christopher Nkunku's move to Stamford Bridge edging towards completion.

What's the latest on Christopher Nkunku to Chelsea?

The Blues' interest in the French phenom grew to something more concrete in the early phases of the current campaign, with The Athletic reporting way back in October that he had penned a pre-contract agreement with owner Todd Boehly's outfit.

And now, according to Fabrizio Romano, the 25-year-old is "set to be unveiled" soon, providing Chelsea with a first-rate new forward after a dismal campaign, largely due to the absence of offensive cohesion.

The Leipzig gem's release clause was believed to be £53m but Chelsea actually added a further £10m when negotiating with the Red Bulls to conclude the deal swiftly, and the £63m man could catalyse the club's much-needed resurgence.

How good is Christopher Nkunku?

After finishing 12th in the Premier League and scoring just 38 goals - a tally bettered by two of the three relegated sides - new manager Mauricio Pochettino will welcome the arrival of such a superlative and dynamic striking option in Nkunku.

This season, the eight-cap international has scored 23 goals and supplied nine assists from 36 matches and has now won the DFB Pokal for successive seasons, having sensationally plundered 55 direct contributions from 52 matches last season.

At Chelsea, who are yearning for some newfound offensive impetus, Nkunku could adopt the mould of his imperious countryman Kylian Mbappe and play a role to mirror that of Paris Saint-Germain's sensation, who is arguably the best forward in the world.

Nkunku certainly boasts the prolific credentials to mirror the 24-year-old Mbappe, who has scored 41 goals and supplied ten assists from 43 matches this season, as well as wreaking havoc in the 2022 World Cup, scoring eight times from seven outings - including an incredible hat-trick in the final against victorious Argentina.

Pochettino also knows the striker well from his time with Les Parisiens, where Mbappe scored 67 goals and supplied a further 34 assists from 75 games under his tutelage.

FBref also illustrates the semblance between the respective forwards, with Mbappe Nkunku's number one 'similar player' on the site.

Indeed, the £167k-per-week Leipzig gem ranks among the top 10% of forwards across Europe's top five leagues for rate of non-penalty goals, the top 6% for shot-creating actions, the top 3% for pass completion, the top 7% for progressive passes and the top 8% for successful take-ons per 90, as per FBref.

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Mbappe, comparatively, ranks among the top 2% of forwards for rate of non-penalty goals, the top 4% for shot-creating actions, the top 7% for pass completion, the top 5% for progressive passes, the top 1% for progressive carries and the top 3% for successful take-ons per 90.

The way in which the £1.2m-per-week sorcerer plies his trade as a blistering and inexorable talisman is something that Nkunku is most certainly displaying signs of emulating, and he could hammer that point home with a veritable hammer by reinvigorating Chelsea.

This is underscored by the words of former Die Roten Bullen assistant coach Achim Beierlorzer, who spoke last term after the player's two-goal and one assist demolition of Club Brugge in the Champions League, waxing lyrical over the burgeoning rise of the former PSG prospect.

He said: "Christopher is having an exceptional season. Without doubt, he's in the form of his life and his qualities are incredible.

"This season, in the space of just a few weeks, he has taken several steps forward, which means he can now be considered as a world-class player."

Let's be completely candid, Nkunku is not quite on the level of PSG's prodigious phenomenon, but he boasts a similar profile and a prolificacy in front of goal to match, and with Pochettino already managing Nkunku's superlative compatriot in the French capital, he might just know the blueprint to unlock the full potential of the Blues' destructive imminent arrival.