Barcelona president Joan Laporta all but confirms Chelsea star Andreas Christensen transfer in latest comments
Barcelona president Joan Laporta has all but confirmed completing a transfer for Chelsea star Andreas Christensen ahead of this summer. This update would be a massive blow for the English club as they could be losing out on one of their crucial cogs in the defensive system.
Christensen is in line to become a free agent this summer which has caused his future with the Blues to be clouded by uncertainty. He is legally able to reach a pre-contract agreement with foreign clubs, and it seems that he has signed one with Barca. He has been heavily linked with a switch to La Liga, and that move may come to fruition, going by this information.
Speaking in an interview with Spanish radio RAC1 (h/t The Sun), Laporta has revealed that the Catalans have completed two transfers for this summer. The president has added that one of them is a centre-back and the other is a midfielder but conveyed he will not reveal their names.
“We’ve completed two signings for the next season. One is a midfielder, the other one is a centre-back. But I’m not allowed to mention their names.”
Reliable journalist Fabrizio Romano has confirmed the same and stated that the two unknown players are Christensen and Franck Kessie of AC Milan. As such, it appears that we have really lost out on the Blues defender and will need to replace him after this term.
No way back for Chelsea?
While we are yet to receive a confirmation on the matter, there is more than enough reason to see why Christensen will leave Stamford Bridge this summer. As such, Thomas Tuchel’s side must now focus their attention on replacing the Dane ahead of the next season.
That would not be easy considering how we are currently banned from engaging in transfer dealings or contract renewals. That does not bode well at all, as it would take time to replace someone like the 25-year-old, who has been a key player for Tuchel.
The defence has been the backbone of our success under the German manager, and restructuring it would undoubtedly be a challenging task indeed. What makes matters worse is how Cesar Azpilicueta and Antonio Rudiger are also in line to leave on a free after this campaign.
Having already lost Marc Guehi and Fikayo Tomori to Crystal Palace and AC Milan respectively last summer, it’s not like we now have a comfortable depth when it comes to our backline. Trevoh Chalobah has only recently started finding regular playing time while Thiago Silva is clearly in the twilight of his playing days.
That, on top of Tuchel playing three centre-backs each game, brings forth a situation where Chelsea must look to bring in new faces into our first-team squad. We have clearly been the third-best team behind Liverpool and Manchester City this season and cannot afford to weaken our squad if we want to win the PL title.
Let’s hope that the club officials can find a solution to the transfer ban so that we can look at potential replacements for Christensen- if Romano is correct about his deal with Barca being already agreed. Now that the West London side has seemingly lost out on tying him down on a new contract, they must do their best and renew the respective deals of Azpilicueta and Rudiger.
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After all, an overhaul in the backline is the last thing we need at this moment, so let’s hope not to see that happen this summer.