(Football news) Chelsea on Saturday lost the FA Cup final against Liverpool on penalties after a goalless draw. Andreas Christensen was due to start the game but made himself unavailable hours before kickoff. The player reportedly told manager Thomas Tuchel that he didn't feel physically ready to play. The defender's current contract at Chelsea is due to expire in July and there is barely any hope of a renewal. After the game Tuchel was questioned about Christensen's future to which he said "We're losing him".

Antonio Rudiger, another player out of contract in June has already agreed a deal with Real Madrid and now Christensen is also on his way out. Barcelona is reportedly in talks with the Dane and is likely to reach an agreement. Cesar Azpilicueta's contract also runs out at the end of the season and he too is linked with Barcelona. Marcos Alonso is another Chelsea player who is on Barcelona's list. A revamp has been forced onto Chelsea and a lot of it is because of the sanctions. Losing players like Rudiger and Christensen in the same window is going to be a massive loss for the Blues.

These are definitely worrying signs for Chelsea as their only remaining first choice centre back will be Thiago Silva who is 37 years of age. There will definitely be replacements and quality ones for that matter but it will take time to make a solid back line out of it. The decision to sell Fikayo Tomori is starting to look really bad considering the fact that he is about to win the Serie A with AC Milan and has been one of the best centre backs in the league. Jules Kounde has been a long term target who has now become an absolute necessity for next season.

Barcelona definitely need reinforcements in the centre of defence. 35 year old Gerard Pique is slowing down and picking up more and more injuries. Clement Lenglet and Samuel Umtiti are way past their best form as they are likely to be sold in the summer. Christensen will just be one of the players who will come in. Just like Chelsea, Barcelona are also interested in Jules Kounde but the deal will be very difficult to pull off due to their financial situation. There have been a lot of question marks about the quality of Christensen but under the right guidance he could be a force to reckon with. At the age of 26 he is just about reaching his prime which is great news for Barcelona.

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