Chelsea have slapped the ‘not for sale’ label on academy product Andreas Christensen amid rumours that Inter Milan might reignite interest in the player in January, according to Calciomercato.
The 21-year-old has had an impressive season so far since returning from a two-year loan spell at Borussia Monchengladbach leading many to even question Antonio Conte’s decision to opt for Gary Cahill and David Luiz ahead of Christensen in his back-three.
It is now understood Inter made two bids for the Danish defender in the summer, and they were both rejected by the Blues with Conte believed to want to keep hold of the rising star. Calciomercato journalist Fabrizio Romano said earlier: “Chelsea do not want to sell the player at any price. Conte trusts Christensen and is determined to keep him at Stamford Bridge.”
This, however, could part of a bigger plan for Chelsea to significantly boost the sale price for their rising star with Inter Milan prior to the January transfer window.
The youngster signed a five-year extension to his contract back in 2015 and is currently evaluated at £15 million according to Transfermarkt, meaning that Chelsea could offer him a new in bid to demonstrate their willingness to keep him and eliminate the possibility of release-clause gimmicks by other clubs.
Christinsen has proven to be a good fit for Conte’s 3-4-3 formation as he is tall, adaptable, focused and possesses good reading of the game which allows him to stay on his feet.
The Dane received his full-game debut for the Blues in the Champions League group stages clash against Qarabag in September and has played the full 90 minutes on five more occasions this season.
Despite the terrific displays in previous matches and a whopping 93.6% overall pass ratio so far, Christensen was left on the bench in the Blues’ last Premier League game, against Bournemouth.
