According to reports on Spanish website El Desmarque, Chelsea defender Andreas Christensen is a €15m (approximately £13.4m) target for Spanish side Sevilla this summer.
What’s the word, then?
Well, El Desmarque say that Sevilla are looking for a new central defender with Adil Rami having already left to join Marseille this summer, and they are interested in the Blues centre-back.
The La Liga outfit believe they could sign the 21-year-old – who has just returned to Stamford Bridge following a two-season loan spell with German side Borussia Monchengaldbach – for around £13.4m, according to El Desmarque, although they could face competition for his signature from a number of other clubs.
The Denmark international will certainly want the opportunity to impress manager Antonio Conte during pre-season though having spent two years away, and it is unclear whether Chelsea would be willing to do business despite the fact that he has only made three appearances in all competitions for the Premier League holders.
How well did Christensen do last season?
Despite his tender years, the Dane made a huge impression during his loan spell with Monchengladbach and it is no wonder that he is attracting admiring glances from a number of teams.
The centre-back, who can also play at right-back and in defensive midfield, made 44 outings in total last season – including four in the Champions League – finding the net on four occasions.
Christensen showed his qualities by having a passing accuracy of 91% in 31 Bundesliga appearances, while he won 77 aerial duels and made an impressive 121 clearances.
Would Chelsea be willing to let him go?
It’s difficult to say.
Last season’s back three of Cesar Azpilicueta, Gary Cahill and David Luiz were almost ever-presents and it would be difficult to Christensen to displace any of those.
Add that to the fact that he will also have added competition from new boy Antonio Rudiger and potentially Kurt Zouma too, and the first team opportunities might not be quite as forthcoming despite the club’s return to the group stages of the Champions League.
In addition, a fee of £13.4m seems low in the current market for such a promising young defender that has shown his strengths in the Bundesliga and in the Champions League for Monchengladbach, and they would be mad to sell him for that price.
