Chelsea legend Cesar Azpilicueta will leave Stamford Bridge this summer due to failing to agree terms on the length of a new contract.
Azpilicueta, affectionately known as ‘Dave’ by the Chelsea faithful, recently became the first player in the club’s history to complete a clean sweep of trophies having won every trophy available to him.
Despite this and the 32-year-old’s consistency and reliability this season, Chelsea have remained unwilling to break their contract policy of offering over-30s more than a one year extension to their deal.
The Sun are reporting the versatile Spaniard wants a two-year deal, as opposed to the one-year being offered by The Blues.
Spanish outlet Sport report Barcelona have offered him these terms, with an option to extend for a further year.
It is a staggering contrast to when Chelsea broke their policy to give David Luiz a new two-year deal despite being the same age as Azpilicueta is now in 2019.
What’s more, the Brazilian defender who was known for his rash decision making was then sold to Arsenal just a few months later. If Luiz is more deserving of a contract than a still-playing Chelsea legend then what does this say about what the club think about their legends.
Chelsea are going into the final months of this season with three of their regular defenders contracts up in the summer; Azpilicueta, Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen.
Considering how impressive the latter two have been for them since Thomas Tuchel’s appointment, it is understandable why they would be keen to keep them as well.
Since joining from Marseille in 2012, Azpilicueta has made 460 appearances for Chelsea, scoring 15 goals and registering 56 assists.