Nkunku Returns to RB Leipzig on One-Year Loan From AC Milan
- Nkunku arrived in Leipzig on Monday evening via an unlisted Red Bull private jet and is due to undergo a medical on Tuesday before signing a one-year loan from AC Milan.
- RB Leipzig will pay AC Milan a €3m loan fee, with a reported €28m purchase option available next summer; Nkunku holds a Milan contract until 2030.
- Newcastle United were also in pursuit, but Nkunku is reported to have preferred a return to Leipzig, where he won the Bundesliga Golden Boot in 2022/23 with 16 goals.
Christopher Nkunku touched down at Leipzig on Monday evening, three years after leaving the club, as RB Leipzig moved to bring the French forward back on a one-year loan from AC Milan — subject to a medical examination scheduled for Tuesday.
A discreet arrival
Nkunku, 28, landed at 21:43 local time aboard a private jet operated by The Flying Bulls, the private aviation fleet linked to Red Bull. The aircraft was not listed on the public flight-tracking platform Flightradar. It had departed from Salzburg earlier in the evening, made an intermediate stop in Milan, and flew on to Leipzig with Nkunku on board. He was met on arrival by RB team manager Babacar N'Diaye, 52.
Transfer terms
Nkunku retains a contract with AC Milan that runs until 2030. Under the terms of the proposed arrangement, RB Leipzig will pay Milan a loan fee of €3 million. A purchase option, reported to stand at €28 million, would become available to the club next summer. Should Tuesday's medical pass without complication, Nkunku is expected to sign the loan agreement immediately thereafter.
Newcastle United had also reportedly pursued Nkunku, but the player is said to have been keen only on a return to Leipzig, the club where he spent four of his most productive seasons.
What he offers Leipzig
Leipzig head coach Martin Demichelis, 45, had publicly called for further reinforcements in the current window. Sporting director Marcel Schäfer, 42, appears to have responded with a player of considerable pedigree. Nkunku is regarded as a versatile attacking option: capable of operating as a centre-forward, on either flank, or as an advanced number ten within Demichelis's preferred 4-3-3 system.
Nkunku first joined Leipzig from Paris Saint-Germain and went on to win the German Footballer of the Year award in 2022. He finished as the Bundesliga's top scorer in the 2022/23 season with 16 goals before his departure to Chelsea in the summer of 2023 in a deal worth €60 million. The loan arrangement carries the inherent uncertainties of any returning-player move, but if the medical clears, Leipzig will have recovered one of the most decorated attackers in their recent history ahead of the new Bundesliga campaign.
