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The Danish defender has joined FC Barcelona from Chelsea and should fit Xavi Hernández’s style of possession football well. Here are five things you might not know about Barça’s newest summer signing.
FC Barcelona have announced the signing of Danish international defender Andreas Christensen, who arrives on a free transfer from Chelsea after his contract with the London side expired. The centre-back is composed under pressure and extremely comfortable on the ball, which will fit Barça and coach Xavi Hernández’s possession football perfectly. He is also versatile, comfortable playing in a two- or three-man central defence, or in midfield, as he did for his country at times in Euro 2020.
Christensen, 26, arrived at Stamford Bridge from Brøndby IF as a 15-year-old in 2012, and spent two years on loan at Borussia Mönchengladbach in the Bundesliga between 2015 and 2017. That spell allowed him to establish himself and he became an important player at Chelsea after his return. Now he’ll try to earn a regular place in Xavi’s side at the Camp Nou, vying for a spot with Gerard Piqué, Ronald Araujo and Eric García.
He’s a particularly shy guy
The defender’s football does the talking for him, with Christensen preferring to keep a low profile off the pitch. “I’m not the most talkative person,” he admitted, in his goodbye letter to Chelsea. The Dane likes the quiet life and his former teammates in the Blues’ youth academy said he bucked the stereotypical footballer trend and was quite shy. Instead of repeatedly asking Chelsea for a chance in the first team, he moved to Germany and proved his quality on the pitch during his loan spell at Borussia Mönchengladbach.
He has been a long-term target for Barça
FC Barcelona have admired Christensen for some time, with the defender playing well against them for Borussia Mönchengladbach in the Champions League in 2016, and for Chelsea in early 2018. In the 2019 January transfer window, there were several reports that they were trying to sign Christensen from Chelsea when Thomas Vermaelen and Samuel Umtiti were injured, but eventually they brought in Jeison Murillo from Valencia CF on loan. Barça had to wait to get their man, but managed it in the end
John Terry tipped him for the top
It’s not just FC Barcelona who believed Christensen was destined for the top level. Former Chelsea central defender John Terry noticed the youngster’s quality soon after he arrived at Stamford Bridge. “I’ve told him that he should chase me and knock me out the team,” said Terry, who also gave the then-18-year-old daily advice in training. Christensen played a key role in the Blues’ youth team winning the FA Youth Cup in 2014.
He comes from a shot-stopping family
Christensen comes from a footballing background, with his father Sten a goalkeeper in his native Denmark. Sten replaced Peter Schmeichel at Brøndby when the legendary stopper moved to Manchester United. Retiring after his son was born, Sten would go in goal in the back garden in their hometown of Allerød, and Andreas would take shots at him.
He wasn’t always a defender
All that time scoring goals against his father perhaps led to Christensen starting his career at Brøndby up front. “I started as a striker, dribbling a lot, doing all the tricks and scoring goals,” explained Christensen. “Then I went into midfield, where I was on the ball a lot and you had to be a good technical player.” Eventually under coach John Ranum, he became a defender and shone there, which has paved the way for him to make it this far, arriving at one of the world’s biggest clubs this summer in FC Barcelona.
