Barcelona design summer exit plan for defender despite obstacle | OneFootball

Barcelona look as if they may well hang onto two of their star players in Ronald Araujo and Frenkie de Jong beyond the summer, despite both looking like prime candidates to be sold in December. However as the salary limit remains a burden for Barcelona, they will look to offload several players in the summer.

One of those is Danish defender Andreas Christensen. While he was lauded as one of the smartest signings of the Xavi Hernandez era, following a prominent role in their solid defensive showing and title run, he has faded from view over the last 18 months. Christensen lost his place last season, briefly featuring as a midfielder, but has been unable to feature this season due to injury. The 28-year-old played just 26 minutes in the second game of the season before an Achilles’ tendon issue ruled him out.

Barcelona tried to sell him in January, but another hamstring injury got in the way of that idea. As per Sport, that remains the strategy for the summer, and Brentford have also maintained their interest in the Danish international. With only a year left on his deal, Director of Football Deco wants to sell Christensen but there is an acceptance that unless he returns to action and demonstrates that he is over his injury issues, then bringing in money for him could be difficult.

Image via Man Utd News

The Catalan daily also say that is is ‘likely’ that another centre-back arrives in the summer, namely Jonathan Tah, but they will not ‘gift’ Christensen to another side. If no satisfactory offer arrives, then they will try to extend his deal by a year, so as not to lose him for free. He could then leave on loan to get back on the pitch.

Another case that is up in the air is Eric Garcia. The 24-year-old has managed to carve out a role under Hansi Flick, more often than not in central midfield, but if another centre-back does sign for the club, then his opportunities will be limited. Already Araujo is struggling to break apart the partnership between Inigo Martinez and Pau Cubarsi, the two first-choice defenders so far.