Chelsea have announced the departure of Danish centre-back Andreas Christensen, who will leave the club on a free transfer.
Christensen made 161 appearances for the club after coming through the Chelsea academy. The Danish defender only managed to feature in 19 league games last season, and he will now leave Stamford Bridge due to his contract expiring, as seen in the tweet below.
Four further players who have made appearances for our men’s first team are on the list of released players submitted to the Premier League. ??
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) June 10, 2022
With Chelsea spending an extended period of time under heavy restrictions, the club were unable to hand out new deals until recently, which could have been a factor in Christensen departing. Fabrizio Romano has now confirmed the 26-year-old’s new club, as seen in the tweet below.
Official. Chelsea have confirmed the departure of Andreas Christensen on a free transfer – already signed the contract with Barcelona. ??? #CFC
Christensen will be announced as new Barça player in the coming days/weeks. pic.twitter.com/ezSlRPc2aJ
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) June 10, 2022
Chelsea are in desperate need of defensive reinforcements.
Christensen will now follow in the footsteps of Antonio Rudiger, who also moved to Spain, joining Real Madrid. Christensen, however, will be joining La Liga rivals Barcelona, linking up with Xavi Hernandez.
There’s no doubt Thomas Tuchel will be busy in the summer transfer window, with two central defenders already out the door. Levi Colwill will be returning from a loan spell at Huddersfield, but his lack of Premier League experience could force the German manager to bring in one or two new recruits at the back.