Barcelona boss Ernesto Valverde ready to make a surprise move to sign Chelsea’s rising star

Chelsea defender Andreas Christensen has been in brilliant form this season and his progress hasn’t gone unnoticed, to say the least, as a report from the Mirror has quoted that Ernesto Valverde’s FC Barcelona are currently tracking his situation.

With Javier Mascherano approaching the end of his Barcelona career and Thomas Vermaelen never a reliable option – given his injury record – Valverde has been forced to find a tough defender and this is where Christensen comes into the picture. The 21-year-old centre-half, who spent two seasons with Borussia Mönchengladbach, has asserted his authority in Antonio Conte’s blueprint and has quite easily replaced David Luiz in the first-team.

This is when Barcelona actually entered the fray of acquiring this signature – the day he stepped in as Luiz’s replacement.

His ability to be a ‘ball-playing’ centre-half has been a major coup for us. Right now, as things stand for Chelsea and the Danish international, he still has two-and-a-half years left on his contract and the Blues are said to be keen on handing him a new deal just to ward off every interest from other clubs.

However, playing for Barcelona will undoubtedly a major step ahead for any player and it remains to be seen whether Chelsea would sanction the sale if Barcelona indeed make an official approach.

All these new speculations have certainly come at the wrong time for Chelsea given that David Luiz is facing an uncertain future as well. That’s not it, the likes of Thibaut Courtois and Eden Hazard have constantly been linked with Real Madrid. And when we thought that was that, a report from Don Balon has suggested Cesar Azpilicueta has emerged Real’s target as well.

Quoting the aforementioned source, they have mentioned that “Azpilicueta would arrive to be a substitute of Carvajal” who has failed to impress Zinedine Zidane. Meanwhile, the 21-year-old Christensen has played 21 games so far in all competitions and is expected to be lined up ahead of David Luiz even after the Brazilian’s return from his injury.

A January bid from Barca seems unrealistic but we cannot rule out the same in the summer. Tough times are ahead for Chelsea.