Andreas Christensen is closing in on committing his future to Chelsea by signing a new deal worth £120,000 per week, according to reports.
The 25-year-old defender has become a first-team regular under Thomas Tuchel, playing the 90 minutes in four of the Blues' five top-flight matches this season as well as figuring heavily in their run to Champions League glory last term.
Denmark international Christensen confirmed earlier this month the Stamford Bridge outfit had initiated discussions, with less than 12 months remaining on his current deal.
The Sun however now claim the final details of his new contract are being finalised before an official announcement is made by the European champions.
It also represents a dramatic turnaround in negotiations with the Blues, who the report adds initially offered Christensen a lower salary than the £78,000 per week he currently takes home every week.
It is thought the Blues were happy to keep him as a squad player when they made that first offer, believing his status as a fringe player at the time did not merit the sort of salary they have now offered him.
Christensen - who has now been part of a defence that has kept 38 clean sheets in 46 games - has however since fought his way back into the German's plans, with Kurt Zouma the man who eventually left the club in a £30million deal for West Ham.
The Dane also featured in the UEFA Super Cup victory against Villarreal and received more praise from Tuchel after the Blues went top of the table courtesy of a 3-0 win at Tottenham on Sunday.
Asked how important Christensen is to his side, Tuchel said after the London derby victory: 'Andreas has been very strong since day, can play in all three positions in the defence and he plays with a lot of confidence.
'In the beginning, I had the feeling it was a bit of push to believe in himself and impose himself and trust in his quality because he has everything that we need in these positions.
'Again a very strong performance. You can see it in the minutes.
'We rely fully on him and he's doing very very good so far and it is everybody's target that he continues like this.'
Desmondeyum
530
Chelsea defenders have scored 5 goals the same amount as Arsenal & Spurs scored combined.
kibedi156
496
then matial gets 250k at United. can't scored 10 goals
Pokceinopt
228
I admire alot the way Liverpool and Chelsea directors manage their clubs, its not good to pay hefty sums of money to players, it is good to pay them what they deserve bt not just being extravagant, look at the 2000-2010,we witnessed real football with less financial implications, clubs such as Barcelona have fallen into this trap and look where they have ended up ,stop exaggerating players salaries
charitywale
101
Alan Shearer's match week 5 team of the week... Note👉 Thomas Tuchel is the manager. The great TACTICIAN