Barcelona set to sign Chelsea defender Andreas Christensen.
According to Cadena SER, via Sport Witness (h/t football.london), Chelsea defender Andreas Christensen is closing in on a move to Spanish giants FC Barcelona. Talks between the Catalan club and the player’s entourage are said to be at an advanced stage.
The Dane is into the last six months on his contract at Stamford Bridge, which means that the player is free to talk to a foreign club for a move in the summer after the expiry of his deal with Chelsea. Christensen has been in West London for over a decade, coming through the Blues’ famed Cobham academy.
It is now claimed that Christensen moving to Barcelona is now a ‘real option’ for both the player and the club. Despite a renewed contract offered to the defender for quite some time now, the 25-year-old is yet to accept the proposal.
Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel has made Christensen one of his defensive mainstays in a three man defence this season, lining up alongside Antonio Rudiger and captain Cesar Azpilicueta, who are interestingly also out of contract in the summer. The Dane, unfortunately, has seen his season be affected by injuries and Covid, leading to him being sidelined for the past few weeks.
Despite being recognised as one of the senior defenders in the Chelsea squad, Tuchel dropped Christensen for a string of games in November last year after the German boss admitted the decision was down to the player’s uncertainty in renewing his contract with the London club.
Tuchel gave the Dane an ultimatum, saying that the defender would need to sort his contract situation behind-the-scenes in order to become a regular in the Blues defence again.
“I have no good news. It was my understanding weeks ago that Andreas wants the same as me and the club. This is why, for me, it was a zero-problem situation because everybody wanted the same as I understood it. He can still develop and be a big, big player. But like I said it’s on him. We want the commitment. Hopefully, we get it.”
Despite Tuchel’s comments back in November, Christensen played a further eight times in all competitions, until injuries and Covid forced him back to the bench once again. The Denmark international last played for the club in the second leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final against Tottenham Hotspur, helping the Blues to reach the final of the League Cup competition.
If the claims coming from across the pond in Spain are to be believed, then this season may be Christensen’s last hurrah at Stamford Bridge. The defender has seen a meteoric rise to success over the past few years, graduating from talented academy player to first team regular. He was vital in our club’s second-ever UEFA Champions League triumph last season, featuring in a defence that kept a clean sheet against Manchester City in the final.
It always hurts to see an academy talent leave us for opportunities outside, and the feeling is just the same with regards to the Dane. At just 25, we would have hoped to have him be our defensive mainstay for years to come, and hold on to the player as he goes through his prime years in West London.
The season is far from over however, and there is still time for the club to work actively behind the scenes and convince Christensen to commit his future to Chelsea, in the hopes that he stays on and becomes a club legend, as every academy player dreams of.
It also remains to be seen if the Denmark international continues to feature for us regularly in the second half of the season if he doesn’t renew his deal. But with the fixture list piling up and injury troubles always a possibility, Tuchel may not be left with a lot of options.
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