Chelsea report: Barcelona reach ‘full agreement’ for star
Chelsea are facing a potentially tumultuous summer – and Barcelona have stepped in to take one star already
Chelsea look set to lose Andreas Christensen to Barcelona, with the star having almost finalised his move to Catalonia.
Christensen has risen through the ranks at Chelsea since joining as a 16-year-old, going on loan to Borussia Monchengladbach in the Bundesliga and returning to develop into one of the Blues' most senior and trusted centre-backs.
But with the European champions looking to shed their wage bill and the 25-year-old having not agreed new terms to keep him in the Premier League, Barcelona have reportedly pounced, with manager Xavi said to be impressed with his ball-playing ability.
Christensen has played both in back fours and back threes for club and country, acting as a defensive midfield-cum-libero during Euro 2020, too. The Dane has excellent passing ability and reading of the game, despite lacking the physicality more closely associated with Premier League defenders.
With Antonio Rudiger also set for an exit at the end of the season, plus Marcos Alonso and Cesar Azpilicueta's futures still uncertain, there could be a mass exodus from Stamford Bridge.
Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich were both reportedly interested in the idea of taking Christensen back to Germany – though both appear to have been beaten to the punch by Barca.
The recently-crowned world champions and runners-up in the League Cup are looking like they could well be changing ownership soon, too.
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Mark White is the Digital Content Editor at FourFourTwo. During his time on the brand, Mark has written three cover features on Mikel Arteta, Martin Odegaard and the Invincibles, and has written pieces on subjects ranging from Sir Bobby Robson’s time at Barcelona to the career of Robinho. An encyclopedia of football trivia and collector of shirts, he first joined the team back in 2020 as a staff writer.