Chelsea is looking for a new center back. It will come at the expense of Andreas Christensen after he has failed to take off this season.
The Blues want a new center back. By most accounts, it will be Nathan Ake thanks to the ease of his buyback clause but the type of target is clear. Chelsea wants someone who is comfortable on the ball and can still perform all the defensive duties required.
That describes Andreas Christensen. He has not been at the same level (at least not consistently) since Antonio Conte’s final season but he also has not been given much of a run of games in the last two years. Maurizio Sarri preferred David Luiz and Frank Lampard seems to have the Danish defender at the bottom of the depth chart.
Now Christensen is being linked to a move away. AC Milan wants him on loan but Chelsea seemingly wants to sell outright. Chelsea’s first academy player to really break through after John Terry is seemingly going to be the first out the door.
It is not clear as to why Lampard has opted to neglect using Christensen. While he has not wowed in any of his appearances this season, he has not truly made any more mistakes per game than Kurt Zouma or Fikayo Tomori. Sarri preferred Luiz’s experience over Christensen but there was not much evidence Luiz was any better than the defender.
Even going back to Conte’s final year, it could be said that Christensen was playing because of Luiz’s lingering injury issues. Furthermore, playing as the center of a back three is much different than playing in a back four. In much the same way a back three system suits Marcos Alonso better, it could also have done the same for Christensen.
But there is quality there regardless and Christensen showed that in the Bundesliga in various formations for two straight years. It is entirely possible that his style and physique are more suited to the less physical leagues, but that only partially explains his last three seasons at Chelsea.
Kevin De Bruyne also struggled in the Premier League with successful Bundesliga campaigns on either side. Manchester City trusted his quality and he has only rewarded the trust. It is strange that Chelsea seems so eager to send Christensen away knowing that it could easily turn into another De Bruyne situation.
More so, it is not as though Ake is head and shoulders above any of Chelsea’s current defenders. Statistically, he is roughly on par with Tomori and Zouma with the only real difference being Ake is left footed and able to play full back and in midfield (something Christensen can also do). Ake would at least maintain the homegrown numbers if Christensen were to be the one to go out.
Why Christensen has fallen out of favor at Chelsea remains a mystery. It is possible that the Premier League is a bad fit for him and the Bundesliga, Serie A, or La Liga would be much better for his style. But Chelsea seems far too eager to move on from one of their few academy success stories pre-Lampard for a new center back.