Andreas Christensen reportedly has no interest in moving away from Barcelona in the January transfer window amid Newcastle United links.
According to Fichajes, Newcastle United’s hopes of bringing Danish centre-back Andreas Christensen back to the Premier League in January have suffered a huge blow. The Barcelona defender is committed to the Blaugrana cause and has no interest in leaving them midway through the season.
Christensen joined Barcelona in 2022 on a free transfer after his contract at Chelsea expired amid not much fanfare. The Dane was certainly not the most flashy signing and was only expected to be a rotation option. But he exceeded all expectations over the course of the last campaign and became an indispensable player to Xavi Hernandez as they scooped the Spanish top-flight title.
However, he has found himself in and out of the team more often this season, as Xavi has tweaked Barcelona’s style of play and formation quite a few times. The arrival of Joao Cancelo, who can play at right-back, has added more competition to Barcelona’s backline.
Newcastle were looking at Christensen earlier this year as a potential summer transfer option, with Christensen boasting experience in English football owing to his stint with Chelsea. But after the debut season he had with the Catalan giants, it was very unlikely that any deal could materialise.
That still remains the case, as per Fichajes, as neither the player nor the club want to part company, with Newcastle still eyeing a move to land the Danish international. Though he has rotated in and out of Xavi’s side of late, Christensen is viewed as an integral piece of the puzzle at Barcelona.
Despite the competition in the defence, where there are four centre-backs for two positions, the Dane is said to be happy in Spain, ready to battle it out for his place at the heart of Barcelona’s backline.
Eddie Howe needs to think about reinforcements in the January window, with his key players hit by a string of injuries. At the back, Dan Burn has suffered a shoulder injury and is set to be sidelined for an extended period, while there is still no word on a possible return for star defender Sven Botman, who has already missed a chunk of the ongoing season owing to a long-term knee issue.
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That said, it sounds like Newcastle may be wasting their time chasing after Christensen, and it would be best to focus their efforts elsewhere. There are plenty of top defenders available on the market.
