Fabrizio Romano: Barcelona in advanced stage of negotiations with Chelsea star Andreas Christensen
According to the transfer journalist Fabrizio Romano on Twitter, Barcelona are in the advanced stages of negotiations with Chelsea star Andreas Christensen after making him an offer to join them next summer. The English club have been dealt a massive blow by this latest update due to the potential defensive crisis that could unravel at the end of the season.
Christensen is in line to become a free agent in the summer transfer window once his contract at Stamford Bridge runs out. As a result, he can legally reach a pre-contract agreement with clubs outside England at this instant in time. That is why his agents have been able to engage in direct contact with Barcelona and Bayern Munich since January.
The Catalan giants have recently been engaged in fresh talks directly with the Danish international’s agents. As things stand, the Blaugrana appear confident of their prospects of landing the player. Despite that, Bayern Munich are still in the race and have every chance to finalise a transfer ahead of next season.
Christensen to join Barcelona?
Losing the 25-year-old would undoubtedly be a major blow for us, considering the impact he has made in the backline. A major reason for our success has been the defence’s ability to keep opposition attacks at bay and it is imperative that we do not lose our best players in the summer.
As such, the Premier League star’s exit could prove to be costly as it will not be easy to replace a man of his quality. Moreover, he would have offered us long term solidity with Thiago Silva close to reaching the end of his playing career. Silva may not be with us for much longer and Christensen could have assisted us in negating the veteran’s eventual departure.
The Blues do have the likes of Trevoh Chalobah and Malang Sarr, who can potentially step up to fill the Dane’s void. However, both players could do with a little more fine-tuning before being thrust into the senior squad as a first-team regular.
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Antonio Rudiger and Cesar Azpilicueta also have less than six months left on their current deals at Stamford Bridge. Potentially losing three top defenders on free transfers would give us a major headache as it could set back Tuchel’s project by several years.
Now with the Blaugrana side reaching the final stages of a potential transfer, we are forced into a precarious situation. Even if a deal fails to materialise, Bayern’s interest prevents us from having a false sense of security. Hence, we must try to retaliate as soon as possible before Christensen signs a pre-contract agreement. It remains to be seen how the club handles this matter ahead of next summer.