MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Chelsea signed France forward Christopher Nkunku from Leipzig on a six-year contract on Tuesday.

The London club spent around $630 million last season and has got its latest recruitment drive up and running with the deal for the highly rated Nkunku. His contract starts on July 1.

”A big effort was made to bring me to the club and I am looking forward to meeting my new coach and teammates and showing the Chelsea supporters what I can do on the pitch,” the 25-year-old Nkunku said.

Chelsea endured a miserable first year under new owners Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital. It recorded its lowest ever points total in the Premier League and missed out on qualification for Europe.

Managers Thomas Tuchel and Graham Potter were discarded and club icon Frank Lampard returned in an interim role to see out the season. Former Tottenham coach Mauricio Pochettino has been appointed and charged with the responsibility of turning around Chelsea’s fortunes.

Nkunku is expected to kick off another busy summer at Stamford Bridge.

“Christopher has proved himself one of the standout attacking players in European football over the past two seasons and will add quality, creativity and versatility to our squad,” Chelsea co-sporting directors Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley said in a statement.

Nkunku has been capped 10 times by France and played for Paris Saint-Germain before joining Leipzig in 2019.