president Joan Laporta has dropped a heavy hint that the club are set to sign Andreas Christensen on a free transfer after admitting the Catalans have already ‘completed’ a deal for a centre-back for next season.
The Dane is out of contract at Stamford Bridge in July and he’s yet to agree to an extension, despite repeated attempts from the Blues to better his salary.
The sanctions imposed on Roman Abramovich by the UK government earlier this month means are unable to offer new contracts to players until a sale of the club goes through.
Christensen had already been minded to leave the club and he’s been free to sign pre-contract agreements with foreign clubs since January 1st.
Barcelona, with their financial constraints, have been keen to sweep up players coming to the end of their contracts and they’ve signed the likes of Eric Garcia, Sergio Aguero, Memphis Depay and Dani Alves for free in the last 18 months.
The Catalans have held extensive talks with Christensen’s representatives and Barcelona president Laporta has now confirmed that the club have agreed a deal to sign an unnamed centre-back, which is believed to be the Danish international.
‘We’ve completed two signings for the next season,’ said Laporta.
‘One is a midfielder, the other one is a centre-back.
‘But I’m not allowed to mention their names.’
Chelsea hope to find a new buyer for the club in the next month.
Abramovich wants around £2.5bn to sell the Blues, while all bids must show a plan to progress forward with plans to either modernise Stamford Bridge or to build a new stadium.
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