Deco facing major issue as Barcelona man declares transfer stance

Barcelona have been keen to trim their wage bill in recent seasons, and once again, Director of Football Deco will be focusing as much on exits this summer as on arrivals. With uncertainty over their salary limit situation, that becomes even more prominent. One player that many had assumed would be on his way out was Andreas Christensen.

The Danish defender has been out of action since the second game of the season, suffering an Achilles tendon issue that ruled him out initially for four months. However a second muscular injury also kept him out of action for a month at the end of January, meaning he has played just 26 minutes all year. Christensen has been fit for Barcelona’s last six games, and in the squad, but Flick has neglected to call on him.

Christensen looked as if he could leave in January on loan, and Brentford were supposedly interested in the 29-year-old before he was injured in the final days of the transfer market. With a year left on his deal, and Deco making it a priority that no player should go into next season in that situation, he intends to sell or renew players who currently are, most notably Frenkie de Jong. There has been no sign he will renew Christensen’s deal though, pointing to an exit.

Sport say that the Danish defender has no intention of leaving Barcelona though. He is keen to forget about this season, and see out his contract, aiming to convince Hansi Flick of his utility. Christensen and his agents will hold talks with Deco at the end of the season about the matter.

It certainly looks set to be a tricky conversation. Christensen is currently bottom of the pecking order amongst five central defensive options, with Barcelona also interested in free agent Jonathan Tah. There are questions over Ronald Araujo’s future, but certainly at the time of writing, it appears that Christensen is not in their plans.