Chelsea’s Andreas Christensen decided to not renew his contract with the London-based club in order to explore newer challenges. According to several reports, he is extremely close to signing for Barcelona who are short-staffed in the central defence department. Christensen is said to have already completed a medical and the deal is expected to be officially announced soon.
Barcelona’s strategy of exploring the free-agent market in order to seal strategic deals for minimal fees doesn’t come as a surprise to anyone. The Catalan club have been reeling under the pressure with President Joan Laporta reporting the club being in over a billion euros in debt.
They had to part ways with club legend Lionel Messi because of this reason and also had to secure a few high-profile exits involving that of French star Antoine Griezmann. Barcelona also signed Memphis Depay, Sergio Aguero and Eric Garcia last summer on free deals after their contracts expired.
Barcelona have been targeting Chelsea’s defensive duo of Cesar Azpilicueta and Andreas Christensen whose contracts are expiring this summer. According to reliable journalist and transfer insider Gerard Romero, the Catalan club are extremely close to finalising Christensen’s arrival.
The 25-year-old is in the final few months of his contract with Chelsea and has stressed repeatedly that he’s looking for newer challenges. Talks with Barcelona have been going on for quite some time and an agreement looks to be close.
Speaking on his Twitch channel, Romero dropped a bombshell by announcing that Christensen has already completed a medical with Barcelona last Monday. He also mentioned that the Danish defender’s representatives will travel to Barcelona next week in order to finalise the deal.
Christensen has been with Chelsea since 2013 but only came to the limelight following loan stint with Borussia Monchengladbach between 2015 and 2017. The Danish defender appeared in 62 matches for the German club and has appeared for Chelsea on 88 occasions. He has also been influential under head coach Thomas Tuchel.
With that being said, Christensen has also had to rotate duties with Trevor Chalobah and Thiago Silva this season. He’s looking for a new journey in Barcelona and according to reports, they have offered him a contract worth 6 million euros including add-ons.
