Barcelona and Bayern Munich lead race to secure Chelsea star

President Joan Laporta has shown a lot of interest in securing players with expiring contracts after signing Kun Aguero, Eric Garcia and Memphis Depay on a free transfer in the last summer transfer window. There is no doubt that the Barcelona chief will continue to look for more of such players with the 2022 summer window set to have multiple big-names becoming free agents.

Chelsea‘s defense is said to be one of the worst-hit cases as Antonio Rudiger, Cesar Azpilicueta and Andreas Christensen are all set to leave after not renewing with the Premier League giants. With Xavi Hernandez keen on signing defensive reinforcements, both Azpilicueta and Christensen have been linked with a move to the Nou Camp.

Fabrizio Romano has now reported that in Christensen’s case, both Bayern Munich and Bayern Munich have shown a strong interest with other Premier League sides also joining the race. While Chelsea looks to renew the 25-year-old, they can rest assured that he will not join another Premier League side out of respect for the club, which means the Catalans have a strong chance of securing the defender on a long-term deal. Meanwhile, Bayern finds the defender the ideal replacement for potentially departing Niklas Sule.

Barcelona need to sign defenders

Ronald Araujo is currently the only one regarded as an undisputed starter with Eric Garcia hoping to breakthrough. With Gerard Pique, Clement Lenglet and Samuel Umtiti all unlikely to play crucial roles under Xavi next season, Christensen could be an ideal signing for the rebuilding project.

The Spanish giants are also eying Cesar Azpilicueta as Xavi has made it clear that he prefers 38-year-old Dani Alves over Sergino Dest. Defensive reinforcement is imminent for Barca with free transfer the focus for Laporta, given the club’s current financial situation.

Should Barca sign Andreas Christensen?