Barcelona has the chance to bind Andreas Christensen on a free transfer, reports Sport. The Catalans have already agreed in principle with the 25-year-old Chelsea centre-back, who will run out of his contract on July 1. However, Barca have frozen Christensen’s transition, now that Matthijs de Ligt will hit the market next summer.
Christensen showed Barcelona in recent months that they would love to play at the Camp Nou and refused to negotiate a new contract with Chelsea. It seemed that a transfer to Catalonia was in the making, but De Ligt’s open transfer wish has given Barca something to think about. Mino Raiola, the agent of the 22-year-old center defender of Juventus, said, among other things, in Studio Football that De Ligt is ready to take a step next summer.
It presents Barcelona with a dilemma: Christensen is a much cheaper option than De Ligt, which will cost at least fifty million euros but is more highly regarded. Barca must make a decision about Christensen within days, the defender has informed the club. If the Spaniards don’t go through with it, the mandekker will still listen to Chelsea’s offer. Christensen has more options, because Bayern Munich and Juventus also want to bring him in on a free transfer.
Barcelona has been in contact with Christensen for a year, the Catalan sports newspaper knows. In January of this calendar year, Barca had the option of taking the Dane on loan from Chelsea on loan, but in view of the then-upcoming presidential election, that was declined. Christensen was also in the picture in the summer as an alternative to Eric García, who was taken over from Manchester City on a free transfer.