According to a recent report by renowned German publication Bild, Bundesliga leaders RB Leipzig are said to be lining up a potential January swoop in an attempt to acquire the services of Chelsea’s Danish international centre-half Andreas Christensen. The German club are claimed to believe that a fee in the region of £25.3m should be enough to convince Chelsea to sell their big defender, but manager Frank Lampard has reiterated differently.
The former Stamford Bridge hero has stated publicly that the youngster is not up for sale at any price, and that he has a very important part to play in the first-team picture during the coming months. The gaffer has committed that he likes Andreas as a player and that a January sale is something that can be ruled out completely.
The Chelsea manager further went on to admit that the Dane’s attributes don’t work against some physically-structured teams, but said that they have been working hard to make Christensen the best player that he can be.
What Does Young Andreas Christensen Offer To Chelsea?
The 23-year-old was a member of the youth system at Danish club Brondby when he was identified as a potential talent by the scouts at Stamford Bridge. Since making a move to join the Chelsea academy, his development as a centre-half was incredibly rapid. After a highly successful two-year loan spell at Borussia Monchengladbach, he returned to the Premier League like a player reborn.
Currently a regular in Frank Lampard’s matchday squads, the Dane has gone on to become an essential part of this Chelsea team’s defensive setup. The gaffer himself has praised the centre-half’s athleticism, height as well as general quality, meaning that he’s effectively assured to be given an odd chance to impress in the first team. Whenever he has been chosen to play from the start for Chelsea this season, it’s safe to say that he has impressed.
Why Chelsea Cannot Afford To Sell Any Centre-Halves In January?
The Blues currently find themselves in an extremely comfortable position on the league table, in fourth place and with a game’s cushion protecting them from dropping down into fifth anytime soon. Despite this though, if there’s one area of the pitch that Lampard needs to address, it’s their apparent inability to maintain a clean sheet, especially if the opposition begins to apply the pressure in the final fifteen minutes of the game.
The introduction of Christensen into the first-team in place of Kurt Zouma has unquestionably had a positive impact on the defensive aspect of Frank Lampard’s team, and losing him in January is sure to be the last thing on his mind. All things considered, Christensen has been a Chelsea player through and through for quite a while now, and the likelihood of him giving up a career in the Premier League to join Leipzig in the Bundesliga seems extremely farfetched to say the least.
