Andreas Christensen admits Chelsea contract situation is 'difficult'

Chelsea defender Andreas Christensen has opened up on his "difficult" contract standoff with the club.

The academy graduate is into the final four months of his current deal and there is a growing fear that he will walk away from the Stamford Bridge for nothing in the summer. He is currently comparing Chelsea's most recent proposal to offers from top clubs on the continent.

As revealed by 90min last month, Barcelona's is the most lucrative of those at present and they are leading Bayern Munich in the pursuit of his signature on a free transfer.

Although he is still not a guaranteed starter at Stamford Bridge, Christensen has risen to prominence since Thomas Tuchel's arrival in early 2021, performing consistently and playing a key role in last season's Champions League success

The 25-year-old was close to agreeing a contract extension last summer, but his demands increased following a change of agent and he was subsequently sanctioned by the club.

Speaking about his unresolved future ahead of Sunday's Carabao Cup final against Liverpool, the Denmark international admitted the situation was 'difficult' but said he was focused on winning with Chelsea.

 “Things can still be done," he said. "Being part of a winning team is all that I want to be as a football player.

“It’s hard because all the talks between the club and my guys, I try to keep it away because I want to focus and it’s not changed for me.

“I go on the pitch every day not really thinking about it. I leave that to the club and my guys, and I can focus on playing football.

“I just focus on winning, really. It’s a difficult situation.”

The Dane also addressed his steady progress in the first team adding: “In the last few years, it has come together more like it should have been from the beginning.

“I’ve been here for so long, a lot of different managers as well, and it is hard for a young player to prove himself all the time. But coming from the academy, where people know me so well, it has been the last couple of years where I should have been for a long time at a comfortable level.

“If I had to say something about myself, that is probably my biggest flaw, that I wasn’t consistent enough, but in the last few seasons I’ve been a lot better and being part of what we are trying now is great.

“In the end with Frank Lampard, I struggled to get the game time I wanted, but Thomas came in and knew me from Germany and I got the idea quite early. It has helped me massively.

“I had the space to make the mistakes that I made and still play, while earlier in the my career I might have struggled to get back in the team.

“It happens. We learn from them. He has helped me a lot.”

He continued: “I was part of winning many of the trophies but, at same time, you don’t really feel like you deserved it because you weren’t playing. You’re a young boy who might have played the first rounds against the smaller teams and you don’t feel like you’re part of it.

“The recent years have been very good for me - I played the whole of the Europa League and the final, then there was the Champions League, a big part of it, last year and most recent the Club World Cup.

“Being involved and feeling you deserve it is an amazing feeling. It’s what keeps me going. I want more trophies.”

Christensen could be one of three defenders Chelsea lose for nothing in the summer, with Antonio Rudiger and Cesar Azpilicueta also approaching the end of their respective contracts. The latter is another target for Barcelona.

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