Christensen’s Chelsea future in doubt, Tuchel admits amid Barcelona transfer talk
Robin Bairner
- Updated: 9 Mar 2022 15:12 GMT
- 5 min read
Chelsea centre-back Andreas Christensen’s future at the club is “in doubt”, according to manager Thomas Tuchel, with rumours that the Denmark international could make a Barcelona transfer still circulating.
Indeed, reports suggest that Christensen is on the verge of committing his future to Barca in a pre-contract agreement as he will be a free agent when his Stamford Bridge deal expires in June.
Tuchel insists that nothing is done but was not optimistic over his club securing the centre-back.
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“It's in doubt whether he stays, we hear the rumours,” the Chelsea manager said. “The situation with Andreas has been clear for many weeks, we are not happy about it because we - club representatives and I - think it's best for him to stay, we rely heavily on him.
“He has not signed yet, so you can not communicate. This is a signal to us, and communication from his side is that he has not signed up until now.
“It is a possibility he will leave us. Will we like it? No. Will we live with it? Yes. Things are not personal, they never should be, this can happen, but I have no further information that I don't want to share.”
It has been suggested that Roman Abramovich’s plans to sell Chelsea could have a profound impact on his future – as well as that of Cesar Azpilicueta and Antonio Rudiger.
Tuchel urges Christensen to stay at Chelsea
Regardless of Christensen’s future allegiance, Tuchel has indicated that he has no plans to drop the player and wants him to stay.
“I try not to take things personally.,” he said. “He is still our player; we will do what is best for us until his contract ends. He is a Chelsea player, that's the point. He knows we appreciate him a lot.
“I think this is a crucial point of his Chelsea career. It's a crucial point where he is at the perfect age, in the perfect moment, the system in which we play, the guys who play at his side, considering all these circumstances this is the decisive moment for him to step up and be a huge Chelsea player for the next years.
“If he decides otherwise, I will not take it personally - it doesn't matter if I understand him or not - but I will treat him as my player until the very last day.”
Tuchel was speaking ahead of Chelsea’s Premier League trip to Norwich on Thursday.
