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Transfer Rumors: Andreas Christensen reportedly close to signing his contract for Barcelona – Supposedly completed his medical

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Andreas Christensen completed his medical

Chelsea defender, Andreas Christensen has reportedly completed his medical for Barcelona, close to moving to the Spanish giant

Andreas Christensen is having his contract expired by the end of this season and no contract renewal news have been confirmed by the Chelsea board as of now. The player has been linked with clubs like Barcelona and Bayern Munich as the news surrounding his contract expiration started gaining momentum. But there was little to no confirmation from the player to continued speculations except for the reports that the defender was resisting a contract renewal as he wanted better terms.

Now however, a report from BarcaTimes has revealed that the player has completed his medical for Barcelona. The report was published by an esteemed journalist, Gerard Romero, who confirmed the player had already underwent the required medical protocols for Barcelona, however the deal is yet to be officially finalised.

Andreas Christensen has been a part of Chelsea since his academy days and holds immense respect for the club. He made significant claims that he had turned down proposals from Premier League sides out of respect for the club and would instead move to a league that isn’t in direct competition with Chelsea.

FC Bayern had also shown keen interest in the player as they saw him as a potential replacement for Niklas Sule, consequently offering him an attractive deal but it’s a sheer stroke of luck for Barcelona that the defender prefers the La Liga move over Bundesliga. Christensen is a strong target for Barcelona, as the club are prioritising defensive reinforcements ahead of the new season.

The Barcelona move will understandably be a boost for the defender and will surely benefit his career since the player faces fierce competition from other defenders in the academy as they could easily replace him in the coming years. He had also struggled to consistently make it to the starting XI here at Chelsea under Lampard’s leadership.

However, this does not discount his abilities as a football player. The defender has greatly improved his defensive instincts and has made back-to-back appearances at Chelsea under Thomas Tuchel’s management, as he is suited to his choice of a back-three system. But the opportunities for young players are also immense under Thomas Tuchel, which could prove threatening in trying to land game time for the player.

Fabrizio Romano claims the defender’s representatives will fly to Barcelona next week, to discuss (and probably finalise) the details of the deal

Fabrizio Romano has confirmed there is a meeting scheduled for next week where Christensen’s future will be discussed. The Guardian journalist has hinted the deal is likely done as Barcelona appear increasingly confident regarding the player’s signing.

Chelsea tried to tie the player down, during the end of last year, in an attempt to extend his contract but were immediately discouraged after Christensen’s evolving demands. Chelsea might have to let go Cesar Azpilicueta as well since his contract is also ending along with Christensen and Rudiger. The uncertainty surrounding these players’ future has grown tenfold following Roman Abramovich’s announcement of selling the club, which could likely have an impact on player negotiations.

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Chelsea dealt a blow in their long-term pursuit of Declan Rice as West Ham declare him off-limits

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Declan Rice has long been of interest to Chelsea with Manchester United and Manchester City also known to queue up for his signature – the latter distancing themselves from the transfer recently, as revealed by BBC journalist, Mike Minay.

Declan Rice’s exceptional form at West Ham quickly garnered him international recognition and speculations started mounting, much of them centring on him wanting to depart the London Stadium and Chelsea circling for his signature.

These speculations have turned into serious attention now as the midfielder has reportedly turned down three contract offers from the Hammers – according to Fabrizio Romano – indicating his plans for an exit despite his current deal at West Ham running until 2024.

To Chelsea fans, this will be music to their ears as Chelsea are Rice’s long-standing admirer. His refusal to agree to the extension is understandable considering the lure of more grandiose clubs in the league is too great an opportunity to pass up, especially for a player in their peak years.

So far, Rice has managed to score just one goal in his 32 appearances for West Ham this season, with 8 assists under his belt but his credentials aren’t to be judged by his stats. In his defense, he’s a midfielder and plays for a side where goals come at a premium. His performance is what makes him an impressive playmaker.

West Ham have been locked in negotiations with Declan Rice over contract extension for months but have failed to tie him down. So far, Manchester United were known to be leading the race to sign Rice however, rumor has it that neither Ralf Rangnick nor Erik Ten Hag are in favour of the move as they believe his player profile isn’t what they want at the heart of United’s midfield – the rumor that remains unsubstantiated at the moment.

Chelsea have always held lofty ambitions for themselves whenever it came to squad structuring under the reign of Roman Abramovich and the lavish signings in the form of Romelu Lukaku, Kai Havertz, Kepa Arrizabalaga etc. reaffirms his signal of intent. How many of those expensive buys have worked out is in fact, another story.

Now, however, a shift in Chelsea’s spending habits seems inevitable considering our updated transfer policy will be shaped by the new owners. This leaves our situation regarding potential transfers in jeopardy, threatening to upset the status quo. Couple that with West Ham’s ability to extend Declan Rice’s contract to a further 12 months, and Chelsea’s transfer concerns are multiplied tenfold as the deal extension option seriously diminishes Cheslea’s prospect of targeting him in the future.

According to The Sun, West Ham are reluctant to abandon their favoured midfielder and insist he’s not for sale. On top of that, David Moyes has slapped a hefty price tag on Declan Rice, revising the figure upwards from £100m to £150m this year, claiming the £100m was pebbles compared to what the midfielder is actually worth. However, this transfer value can fluctuate in response to several factors such as Rice’s performance with England in the 2022 World Cup and West Ham’s decline in performance in the competition the participate in.

Chelsea and even the head coach Thomas Tuchel are long-term admirers of the midfielder who was released from the Cobham academy as a youngster. The affair is mutual and the interest is very much reciprocated as Rice has also publicly expressed his liking for his boyhood club.

Declan Rice

When asked about how Tuchel rates Declan Rice, the blues boss responded with;

“Very Highly.” “He is available, is captain, plays with a lot of responsibility, is a physical player, very strategic-minded player, a key player for his team, and is strong at set-pieces. This is not a surprise. Everybody sees this. He is a huge part of the success of West Ham and it is impressive.”

With three and a half years still left on Rice’s contract, West Ham seem to be under no pressure to sell the midfielder this summer. However, it is understood that the Hammers will allow him to leave the following summer, provided a suitable offer is made. Currently, David Moyes is unworried about Rice’s contract situation as he maintains the midfielder is ‘untouchable’ and not for sale for the time being.

“We’ve got three and a half years so it isn’t the biggest priority. We’ve got other priorities, trying to add to the squad and get other positions in.

“Maybe he just wants more money. People do turn down contracts. It is not unusual for players at clubs to turn down contracts, maybe it is a negotiation tactic.” said the West Ham manager.

Chelsea currently have Mateo Kovačić, Jorginho and N’Golo Kante in the midfield. But, their contracts are also set to expire soon, forcing the need to make preparations beforehand.

 

 

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Real Madrid are believed to have reached verbal agreement with Chelsea’s Antonio Rüdiger

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Chelsea’s Antonio Rüdiger has undergone a magnificent renaissance under Thomas Tuchel to the extent that he’s become one of Chelsea’s most influential playmakers. But now, they are forced to sit back and watch as the departure of their star man Rüdiger looms large..

Currently, Real Madrid are leading the race to sign him ahead of the likes of Manchester United and Barcelona. Recent speculations indicate the likeliest option for Rüdiger to move to is Santiago Bernabéu as Madrid are in advanced talks with Rüdiger’s representatives. 

There was a growing sense in all the Chelsea supporters as though Rüdiger would surely go on to play for the Blues for many years to come, seeing his responsibility to take it upon himself to surge forward every time it looked like Chelsea were going stale. Some even believed he would one day captain Chelsea. However, such a fairytale eventuality wasn’t to be for Chelsea fans, as the defender is now set to depart for Real Madrid. 

Chelsea's Antonio Rüdiger

This comes in largely unjust circumstances as Chelsea are currently operating under government-specified restrictive license. Due to these limitations, Chelsea are in a semi-frozen state with all their revenue streams put on hold, making them unable to resume their commercial activities like offering contract renewals/extensions and engaging in any kind of transfer sales. 

Despite that, Chelsea have tried to accommodate closer and closer to Rüdiger’s demands however, the player has now refused to sign the contract extension, making his desire to leave final. The contract was proving very difficult to negotiate, especially considering the current uncertainty surrounding the club. But all is sealed now as even Thomas Tuchel has confirmed the news of his leaving as a free agent once his contract runs out – a wish the defender has personally expressed to Tuchel.

‘We had big offers for him and the club tried everything but we cannot fight any more because we have the sanctions,’ said Thomas Tuchel, finally conceding defeat in his attempts to retain Rüdiger.

‘Our hands are tied. We don’t take it personally. It is his decision.’

Chelsea have been locked in negotiations with Antonio Rüdiger over contract extension for over nine months, however, the financial terms of the contract didn’t seem to appeal to the defender. Although the club revised their renewal offer upwards, Rüdiger still seemed determined on the course to push for an even bigger deal. These high wage demands remained a bottleneck for Chelsea, eventually leading to his departure amid a volatile club situation.

According to Fabrizio Romano, it is believed that a verbal agreement over a four-year deal has now been reached between Real Madrid and Chelsea’s Antonio Rüdiger with only the signatures pending. Official announcement can’t be made until the end of the season. 

Rüdiger has been routinely stealing for himself most week’s headlines ever since his precarious contract situation was made public. Not a month ago, his agent was discovered holding meetings with Barcelona and Real Madrid – the latter pursuing the Germany international aggressively – over a potential move away from Chelsea. This engineered speculation has finally turned into serious attention now that everything is already done and dusted.

Losing Rüdiger will be a huge blow for Chelsea as he’s one of Thomas Tuchel’s most dependable centre-backs. On top of that, he’s also a crowd favourite at Stamford Bridge. Across the media, he is widely touted as an ‘aggressive leader’ due to his intensity and ferocity both on and off the pitch, without relinquishing any of his trademark confidence; the traits even Tuchel is an admirer of. 

Tuchel acknowledges finding a replacement for Rüdiger is going to be a tough challenge to navigate especially considering the sanctions. However, the blues boss is hopeful he will ‘find solutions’. 

‘We will miss him a lot. It will be challenging but, no matter how much I love Toni and how big a role he has played, there will be life at Chelsea without Toni Rudiger. We will find solutions.’ 

And in Tuchel, we trust..

 

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Transfer Recap and Update: Chelsea ready to offload Romelu Lukaku this summer

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Chelsea ready to offload Romelu Lukaku: Chelsea are reportedly willing to let Romelu Lukaku leave this summer, amid active interest from several clubs.

According to 90min, Chelsea will be happy to sell Lukaku to the clubs interested, after the striker failed to replicate the form he displayed at Inter Milan. The two clubs currently in contention to secure the Belgium international’s services are; Inter Milan and PSG.

Earlier this week, PSG’s interest in Lukaku was made public by a French outlet But!,  claiming that PSG were expecting to see out their star player, Kylian Mbappe this summer and are therefore stepping up efforts to source a replacement.

Reports also revelealed that the club had already approached Mino Raiola, Lukaku’s agent and that talks were already underway about bringing Lukaku to Paris, coming summer.

Chelsea signed Lukaku from Inter Milan in the summer of last season for a club record fee of £97.5m on the back of an impressive campaign where the Belgium international scored 64 goals in his 95 appearances for Inter across all competitions.

Since then, the striker has only made 12 league starts, scoring five goals – an underwhelming tally for a striker of his calibre – forcing Thomas Tuchel to redirect his focus to Kai Havertz in order to solve Chelsea’s attacking woes. Havertz has comprehensively eclipsed Romelu Lukaku in the central role and has managed to win a regualar start in Chelsea’s XI, due to his exceptional rise in form.

Lukaku’s chances were further brought to ruin after his controversial interview went viral, through which he tried to engineer a move back to his former club. The striker had openly criticised Tuchel’s tactics in the said interview, also publicly disclosing he was unhappy at Chelsea. Since then, he has seen his position overtaken by Kai Havertz.

Chelsea ready to offload Romelu Lukaku

Lukaku also reportedly wants the move as his agent is actively engaged in conversations with the two clubs interested.

None of us have seen Romelu Lukaku in his best light so far. His sporadic and inconsistent form has failed to satisfy Thomas Tuchel’s appetite and rightly so, considering his obnoxious price tag. This has prompted the board to evaluate Lukaku’s situation and the belief is that a move away from Stamford Bridge will likely fare well for both Chelsea and Lukaku. However, Chelsea are unlikely to get a figure anywhere near the £97.5m they paid for him, but the board are optimistic the fee they can recoup would be enough to invest in other areas and yield better results.

Hence, the common understanding is that Chelsea are happy to let the striker leave, coming summer, without having to recruit a player to replace him.

 

 

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