Barcelona have made the Chelsea defender Andreas Christiansen “the number one candidate on the list” of players they’ve drawn up to cover for the injured central defender Samuel Umtiti, according to Spanish outlet Sport.
The World Cup winner Umtiti has missed five games on the spin after sustaining a knee injury, his second of the campaign. That leaves the Blaugrana on the lookout for a young, low-cost option to cover the space he’s left in their backline until the end of the season.
Umtiti may yet have to undergo surgery on his knee.
Christiansen has been relegated to the bench by Maurizio Sarri and so, it was hoped by the Barcelona technical department, would be available on a six-month loan deal to pad out their number ‘till the end of this term.
That deal, with the added possibility of a permanent summertime deal, was rejected out of hand by Chelsea, according to these reports, but the Danish international Christiansen is keen and hoping to bend the hand of his paymasters in the coming days.
Cesc Fabregas and Gary Cahill are two experienced players in the Blues’ dressing room who could possibly leave Stamford Bridge in January, with the pair being restricted in terms of playing time under Sarri so far this term.
But progression in the Europa League, assured by the Blues’ winning of Group L, could see the club’s Italian coach wanting to hang onto some of the better players at the fringes of his squad as he attempts to contest on two fronts in the spring.
