Andreas Christensen has come too far to let Chelsea stall his career

In two years, Chelsea will not have David Luiz. The question is: When they don’t, will they have Andreas Christensen? Not if they ignore the young Dane.

Andreas Christensen’s icy composure on the backline can sometimes make him seem bloodless (“He’s a robot!“), especially compared to blood-and-guts predecessors like John Terry and Branislav Ivanovic. But Christensen is not all Danish reserve and forbearance. He is quite intolerant of his current role in Chelsea’s reserve, and may be willing to take whatever steps necessary to ensure the club does not dispose of his young career as they have those of many of his peers.

Christensen knows he is at an important point in his career. He has experience and momentum as he transitions from the “preternaturally gifted prospect” stage into the “first-team regular” stage of his career. Any significant break in his playing time will reduce his match sharpness, and take him off the radar screens at Chelsea, Denmark and with other clubs sizing him up as a transfer.

This is a potential fork-in-the-road for his career. If he continues on towards first-team regular, he can progress to being one of the most valuable defenders in the world. Down that road are the footsteps of Chelsea teammates John Terry and Gary Cahill, and his compatriot Christian Eriksen. At the very least, Christensen’s trajectory will have him playing every week for a top-five side in a “big five” league, as well as growing towards the Denmark captaincy. That’s the floor for Christensen, given his recent past and momentum.

Then there’s the other option. If his playing time stalls out, he will reunite with too many of his fellow Chelsea academy graduates along the “what could have been” road.

Christensen is not ready to talk transfers, but he is not willing to stay on the bench.

"I can’t stand to have so much patience again. Now I’m 22 years old, and I would really like to play. In the last three seasons, I have the game fully for the teams I’ve been on, so it is clear that I do not see me here if my current situation also applies in the future. It is too early to talk about when I’m going to switch, if I absolutely must change. But it is clear that it is not a good situation for me. – BT"

Andreas Christensen knows what an exception he is among young Chelsea players. He was purchased from Brondby as a teenager, played briefly for the youth sides, went on a two-year loan to the Bundesliga and returned straight into the first-team. He knows that is not normal. He knows, as he looks around him on the Chelsea bench, that Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Lucas Piazon are the norm. And he is – commendably – unwilling to tolerate the usual Chelsea treatment of players like him.

Who else knows that? Jonathan Panzo and Harvey St. Clair. They elected to leave Chelsea’s academy before they could even enter the loan system because they knew Christensen was the outlier of outliers, and they wanted more for their careers than the big mush of what’s normal. Up at Manchester City, Jadon Sancho saw something similar developing and took action.

And you know who is watching this play out? Mason Mount. Ethan Ampadu. Matt Miazga. Callum Hudson-Odoi.

There is no disputing Andreas Christensen’s form tumbled in the second half of last season. He made serious errors against Manchester City and Barcelona, in particular. Antonio Conte was completely justified in replacing Christensen with Gary Cahill, and then Cahill did what Cahill does and did not relinquish the spot for the rest of the season.

But what Christensen is pointing out in this interview is the second-biggest danger* in Maurizio Sarri’s decision to make David Luiz a regular in the starting XI. Set aside all of your thoughts – and even mine! – on David Luiz as a defender, a player or a member of Chelsea’s locker room. He is 31 years old. Under the best case scenario, he has two years left in him at Chelsea before age and Roman Abramovich catch up to him. Christensen, on the other hand, at age 22 has 10 years ahead of him. But not if Chelsea lose him in the next year.

Andreas Christensen absolutely needs to earn his place in the starting XI. Maurizio Sarri should not simply transfer David Luiz’s sinecure to the younger man. But Sarri needs to introduce a path for Christensen and the other young players to pierce his retinue of favourites. Especially since his favourites are little more than the first Blues he encountered and imprinted on during his first weeks at the club.

Chelsea also need – say it with me now – a technical director (337 days). If the Blues are going to have a head coach and not a manager in title or authority, they need a technical director to oversee the career paths and development of players like Christensen. In such a structure, too, the technical director would even have some leverage – if not authority – over the coach to ensure that the coach’s day-to-day preferences do not undercut the club over the long-term.

Coaches often have less than two years at Chelsea. The best players can have five or more. By all accounts, Andreas Christensen should outlast Maurizio Sarri at Chelsea. But the way things are shaping up now, in 2-3 years Sarri, Luiz and Christensen will all be gone, and the coach at that time will be wondering who let this happen and how. Maybe someone will share this link with the coach so he knows we were all warned.

*The biggest danger is that he is David Luiz, and sooner or later he will cost the team some completely avoidable goals-against.