Barcelona make injured defender’s re-registration top priority as he resumes on-pitch training

Considering how FC Barcelona have fared this season, one would be forgiven if he overlooked the number of injury problems to key players that Hansi Flick has had to deal with.

The fact that the Blaugrana have opened up a six-point lead in La Liga despite several injury woes plaguing the squad is greatly commendable.

One such player who has been hardly available throughout the course of the current season is key defender Andreas Christensen.

Having played less than 30 minutes this term, the Dane suffered an injury – with the Achilles tendon issue that had been bothering him from last season flaring up.

No timeline was provided for the former Chelsea man’s return, but it was speculated that an injury of this nature, where the chosen treatment is conservative, typically requires at least two months for the player to return to the pitch.

In the end, Barcelona decided to deregister Christensen in La Liga and use the salary space to register summer signing Dani Olmo, citing the centre-back’s long-term injury.

Christensen’s re-registration now a priority

And now, according to SPORT, Barcelona are treating the re-registration of Christensen as an absolute priority especially with the defender’s return starting to appear on the horizon.

Indeed, the Danish international has been spotted training on the pitches of the Ciutat Esportiva alongside the also-injured Eric Garcia, which is a positive sign.

As such, both the coaching staff and the sporting department consider his case an absolute priority.

Barcelona are short on fit senior central defenders, and Hansi Flick needs to be able to rotate Pau Cubarsi and Inigo Martinez, who are performing at an exceptional level, but need to be rotated to avoid burnout.

Recovering Christensen has become the top priority, as his profile fits perfectly with Flick’s vision for the centre-back pairing.

Therefore, all efforts are focused on returning to the 1:1 Fair Play rule which is a prerequisite for Christensen to be re-registered.

Despite the widespread talk over the summer that this objective would be achieved before the transfer window closed, and the significant reduction in the wage bill, the reality is that Deco’s room for manoeuvre remains very limited.

But now, the time has come for Barça to definitively reach the necessary economic conditions to operate normally.