Fabrizio Romano: Barcelona offer new five-year contract to Chelsea star Andreas Christensen
According to Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano, Barcelona have offered a new five-year contract to sign Chelsea star Andreas Christensen in the summer transfer window. He is one of the crucial components under Thomas Tuchel’s rock-solid backline, and his potential departure could be detrimental to our future success.
Christensen will see his current deal at Stamford Bridge expire at the end of the 2021-22 season. As such, he is legally able to engage in pre-contract agreement talks with foreign clubs at this moment. The recent negotiations are a result of that as Barca have improved the offer that they put on the table.
The Blaugrana side’s latest proposal was improved in the last 48 hours as they look to put this matter to bed. Xavi Hernandez is personally pushing to complete the transfer as he is keen to add the Dane to his new project at Camp Nou. Bayern Munchen are still in the race and are trying their chances, but the Spanish club is confident about finalising a move.
Can’t lose Christensen!
Tuchel tried to reduce the 25-year-old’s prominence in the past, possibly due to the defender’s reluctance to sign a contract extension. However, the boss had to backtrack on his methods as he realised how crucial the centre-back is to his defensive set-up.
The Blues central defender’s contributions have certainly made an impact as our defence is second-best in the Premier League, having conceded just 18 goals so far. At 25, he is also one of the few defenders in the age bracket that can continue to lead us for the foreseeable future.
Hence, losing Christensen could have several impacts on our defensive system. We certainly do not want to see our greatest strength decline, which is a possibility if he departs after this season and we fail to replace him properly. With this latest push from the La Liga side, we are at risk of seeing that take place next summer.
With Bayern Munich also in the race, we would definitely find it challenging to convince the Premier League star to stay. With not much time left for the summer transfer window, Marina Granovskaia must do her best and tie him down on a new contract.
That is especially the case considering how Rudiger and Cesar Azpilicueta are also in line to leave us on free transfers at the end of this campaign. It remains to be seen how the board would handle this matter with a potential defensive crisis that awaits us next summer.
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Trevoh Chalobah has had a breakout season under Tuchel but he can only do so much. Thiago Silva is ageing and even if Azpi stays, he isn’t the most mobile player around given he will be 33 this August. It seems that the club would have to resort to bringing in new faces, because there doesn’t seem to be any other way left if we lose the trio this summer.