Telegraph football correspondent Matt Law has said Chelsea Football Club have always believed in Andreas Christensen, even if some of his managers haven’t, speaking on the London Is Blue Podcast.
Christensen is certainly repaying the faith shown in him by the Blues board through his recent performances under Thomas Tuchel.
Stepping into Thiago Silva’s shoes following the Brazilian’s injury was never going to be easy.
But the 24-year-old has made the centre-back position his own, with some fans thinking Silva may be unable to dislodge his in-form teammate.
That hasn’t always been the case for Christensen.
Despite being at Stamford Bridge for almost a decade, the Danish defender has made only 116 senior Chelsea appearances.
During that period, he has played under five coaches and spent a couple of seasons on loan at Borussia Monchengladbach.
The first four coaches in the Blues dugout didn’t appear to rate Christensen. But Tuchel seems to have found something none of his predecessors could.
The great Dane’s reward for his performances could extend to a new contract (Telegraph).
And Law explained that was something Chelsea have wanted to do for a while because of how highly they rate their £80,000-a-week (Spotrac) player.
“I’m told there are expected to be some talks slightly before the end of the season,” said the Telegraph’s football news correspondent.
“Chelsea definitely want to extend his contract. I think they wanted to extend his contract before his renaissance under Tuchel.
“He has always been rated by the club. Managers have had different opinions of him, but the club have always rated him highly.
“They’ve invested a lot in Christensen and will be delighted by how he’s playing now.”
A fresh deal would be just reward for the central defender, who has been pivotal to Tuchel’s success since taking over.
Since swapping places with Silva last month, Chelsea have kept seven clean sheets in the matches Christensen has featured in.
It would have been unthinkable this time last year to suggest Christensen would be the Blues’ best player. But there’s a strong case for that now.
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