Andreas Christensen will return to training today. (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)
According to The Standard, Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel has responded to the rumours that linked Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen with a move to Barcelona. Uncertainty has surrounded the future of the defensive duo as they near the end of their respective contracts in the summer transfer window.
Christensen is increasingly likely to leave Stamford Bridge with each passing day as it seems that he wants to leave the Blues. Barca are confident that he will join them after this season, with a move being touted to be close to completion. The English club are desperate to renew his contract, but Tuchel has strongly suggested that the rumours are true.
“We heard the rumours, the same rumours. I have no confirmation for you as I did not speak to Andreas about it at the moment, but we heard the same rumours, so maybe it’s like this.”
The Catalans are posing more headaches to the West London club after the Spanish side met with Rudiger’s agent on Wednesday. The centre-back has not made any final decision regarding his future for now. Unlike Christensen’s case, the German manager remains confident about keeping hold of the defender.
“I would try to meet him if I was any other club. He’s still our player, we still think there’s a good chance he stays our player once things are solved. We cannot speak, negotiate with him and his agent. Fair enough if it’s true that he listens to other offers. That’s the way things go but I am still confident.”
The Blaugrana side have been a constant thorn in our side over the past few months. It seems that they have been successful in prising Christensen away from us, considering how there is a stark difference between Tuchel’s words on his future compared to that of Rudiger.
As such, we must prepare for life after Christensen and set things up as much as possible to look for replacements. We are restricted by the transfer ban, which prevents us from engaging in any kind of business for now. However, we can identify alternatives and target them once the sanctions are lifted.
As for Rudiger, he is arguably our best centre-back, and losing him would have been a damning blow for us. Fortunately, the 48-year-old coach’s response does give us some sign of relief about his future. We remain hopeful, just like the boss, that the German central defender’s contract will be renewed.
Finally, the Blues boss also provided another positive update on Cesar Azpilicueta. The latter recently saw his contract get extended by another year amidst interest from Xavi Hernandez’s side. However, it was claimed that the veteran would still be allowed to leave for free this summer. Tuchel has squashed those talks with his latest words.
“It’s a good thing, we were aware of it. We have a contract, he’s our captain, it’s a very high possibility he will stay. I knew the amount of games we needed to make him stay, to make his contract continue or extend. You know how much I rely on him and how much impact he has in this group and this club.”
If Azpilicueta also stays with us, our interests would be protected to a great extent. The impact of Christensen’s exit would not have a great effect as we only need to bring in one centre-back for now. The situation would have been made worse had we lost the skipper alongside Rudiger. Let’s hope to see a positive outcome regarding their futures moving forward.
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