Barcelona convinced €40 million-rated versatile defender will stay this summer

Barcelona are staring at a critical summer transfer window in the weeks to come where there will likely be some notable departures from the club.

After all, the financial situation demands that the Blaugrana sacrifice one or two top players in order to be able to go after their intended targets.

The centre-back department appears the likeliest to be hit, given the sheer number of resources in the position for manager Hansi Flick.

Ronald Araujo and Jules Kounde are both attracting interest although it is extremely unlikely that both will be sold.

Another defender who appears set to continue at Barcelona beyond the summer is Andreas Christensen.

Andreas Christensen going nowhere

Indeed, as per MARCA, Barcelona are completely convinced that Andreas Christensen will not be leaving the club in the upcoming summer transfer window.

After having held talks with the Danish international, the Catalan heavyweights are certain that the defender will be staying put.

Although Christensen arrived as a central defender, he played the second half of last season as a pivot midfielder with a high level of performance.

Christensen’s contributions are valued at Barcelona. (Photo by JAVIER SORIANO/AFP via Getty Images)

As things stand, the idea is that the 28-year-old will play in the centre of the park again next season as new manager Hansi Flick likes to operate with a double pivot and Barça will need options in the position.

Barcelona have the likes of Gavi, Ilkay Gundogan, and Frenkie de Jong to operate as part of the double pivot while they also plan on making a new addition. But they also count on Christensen in the position.

It must be remembered that Christensen’s sale would be very lucrative for Barcelona in their current economic situation.

After all, he was signed for free in 2022 and his market price is between €30-40 million. If a sale were to be made for that money, it would all be written as profit on the balance sheet.

But Christensen’s contributions, both defensively and in attack – like the goals against PSG and Real Madrid, are valued by the Catalans.

As such, the idea at Barcelona is to keep hold of Christensen despite being fully aware of what they could get for him financially with a sale.