Chelsea value Christopher Nkunku at more than £60million, football.london understands, with Bayern Munich interested in a January transfer. The club are also exploring a deal to sign Mathys Tel, at the same time.

Nkunku is currently unhappy with his game time at Stamford Bridge having largely been left as a substitute in the Premier League. The 27-year-old remains the joint-top scorer for the season.

Having signed for £52million in 2023 - a transfer that was agreed over nine months prior - Nkunku has had a frustrating time of things. This is still his first extended period of sustained fitness since joining but Enzo Maresca has preferred to go with Nicolas Jackson as his sole striker for the most meaningful matches.

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Nkunku is often the first choice from the bench but that is not a squad role befitting of a player who was once the jewel of European football during his time at RB Leipzig. With Cole Palmer occupying the space behind Jackson, Nkunku has been left to watch on, getting almost a third of his minutes from the Conference League, a competition he is more than overqualified to play in.

As Chelsea consider their options this month, deals for Nkunku and Tel have emerged. The latter is also a versatile forward, although he is more of a striker profile than Nkunku, even if he has played off the left more often than not for Bayern.

Chelsea enquired as to Tel's availability over the summer and would be willing to make a concrete offer for him again now if given enough encouragement that a deal would be possible. Bayern's interest in Nkunku is separate to any move for Tel.

Even without hitting top form, Chelsea still value Nkunku on a par with some of the world's best. A £60million price tag puts him up alongside Napoli's explosive winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, who is set to leave Italy in favour of going to Paris Saint-Germain.

Chelsea's price tag for Nkunku would, if met by Bayern or any other suitors, see them make a healthy profit on their initial investment and an even bigger one on the books. Movement between Tel and Nkunku may well be reliant on each other, though, much like Chelsea's interest in Marc Guehi and their loan recall option for Trevoh Chalobah.

This certainly complicates matters, however, Bayern sporting director Christoph Freund has plans for Tel. "[He] is a very important player for us, we are in very good contact because he's a great talent and should play an important role for us," the German said on Tuesday.

"We have had many discussions. Our clear goal is for Mathys to make his breakthrough with us. We are very happy with our squad, quality and quantity wise. Of course, if a player is unhappy, we can talk about it. Our clear plan with Mathys is for him to make his breakthrough here."