Chelsea‘s Danish centre/right-back Andreas Christensen will showcase his ability at the UEFA European Under-21 Championship.
Yet, Chelsea seemingly have no idea what to do with the 19-year-old.
Meet Christensen
Last April, Christensen’s name hit mainstream media when his salary was leaked. Neil Ashton at the Daily Mail revealed that Chelsea were paying Christensen €27,295/£20,000-a-week to play youth football.
Christensen’s alleged €1.4 million/£1 million salary eclipsed Luca Toni’s €1 million/£732,858-a-year wage at Hellas Verona, per Carlo Laudisa at La Gazzetta dello Sport.
Toni finished this past season as Serie A’s joint-top scorer (22 goals), sharing the Golden Boot with Inter Milan‘s Mauro Icardi.
Ashton’s figure is exorbitant.
Saido Berahino was being paid €1,159/£850-a-week when he became a breakout star at West Bromwich Albion, per Ben Smith at BBC Sport.
Christensen’s father, Sten, claimed the Daily Mail were grossly negligent in their journalism, per Sune Sosted Paarup Oder and Mads Glenn Wehlast at Ekstra Bladet (h/t Vincent Ralph at Here Is The City).
Sten refuted Ashton’s €27,295/£20,000-a-week amount, but remained tight-lipped on Chelsea’s valuation of Christensen.
Translation: Ashton is not 100 per cent accurate, but his underlying message that Chelsea pay premium money for the best talents in the world might be on the money.
There are question marks surrounding Christensen transitioning to top-flight football.
Despite Christensen being highlighted as one of the best UEFA Youth League players, there are red flags, per Wyscout:
Decent body mass ratio who can build a little bit more of physical strength/power in next few [years] to react better [to] contact/impact with opponents.
[Christensen is] a little skinny … decent agility, coordination and pace (not too explosive or fast at short-mid distances) … in front of skilful players with fast direction shifts/great acceleration skills at short distances, he may struggle.
The implied message is while Christensen is creme de la creme in youth games, his physical immaturity will be a barrier at the next level.
| Chelsea | Weight | Height | Age |
| Kurt Zouma | 203 lb | 6’3″ | 20 |
| John Terry | 198 lb | 6’2″ | 34 |
| Gary Cahill | 190 lb | 6’4″ | 29 |
| Andreas Christensen | 163 lb | 6’2″ | 19 |
Christensen is already splitting time at right-back and his finesse playing style coupled with his high football IQ and composure on the ball suggest he could function as a passing outlet in midfield.
He accumulated more assists (five) in the UEFA Youth League than promising midfield talents such as Ajax‘s Abdelhak Nouri, Arsenal‘s Daniel Crowley and Shakhtar Donetsk‘s Viktor Kovalenko (three).
Christensen needs to bulk up if he wants to maximise his upside as a centre-back, but he is still rated highly by Chelsea captain John Terry.
“I have always told [Christensen] that he should chase me and knock me off the team. He should be hungry to take my place,” Terry said, per TV2 Sporten (h/t Sky Sports). “Believe me, I am sure that he will be a top footballer and one of the future men for Chelsea.”
Terry is able to empathise with Christensen’s situation having heard similar criticisms growing up.
Keith Bailey, the scout who flagged Terry, witnessed a playmaker in midfield and didn’t project the youngster to develop into one of the greatest centre-backs in the Premier League.
“[Terry] could [complete] quick accurate passes with either foot and scored a lot from set plays and free-kicks,” Bailey said, per Wayne Veysey at London Evening Standard. “He wasn’t big and strong and I certainly didn’t envisage he would become a [centre-back].”
“All the other boys around me shot up and were physically stronger and quicker,” Terry said, per Simon Garfield at the Guardian. “People were worried about whether I was going to be big enough and there were a few question marks at Chelsea.”
Mentally, tactically and technically, Christensen is ahead of the curve.
Physically, he is behind.
Terry’s story is a reminder of the untapped potential Christensen has if he is able to get stronger as soon as possible.
2015/16: Loan
Chelsea are set to loan Christensen to Borussia Monchengladbach, per Simon Johnson at the London Evening Standard and Simon Jones at the Daily Mail.
Excluding the possibility of Borussia Monchengladbach‘s defenders experiencing a series of unfortunate events, Christensen is not going to receive an extended starting run.
Borussia Monchengladbach, the third-best team in the Bundesliga, are an outstanding defensive side, conceding 0.76 goals per league game.
Chelsea conceded 0.84 goals per league game.
Julian Korb: 23-year-old German has enjoyed successive seasons with 20-plus Bundesliga starts at right-back.
Korb is Borussia Monchengladbach‘s weak link, though he is still a work in progress.
He isn’t ruling out a switch back to his natural position in midfield.
“I’ve been playing for around one and a half years at right-back now,” Korb said, per the German Football Association’s website. “[Though], I could imagine myself playing in a holding midfield role.”
Tony Jantschke: 25-year-old German is Borussia Monchengladbach‘s answer to Philipp Lahm.
Jantschke is elite at right-back and centre-back.
He is Mr Reliable, playing four straight seasons of 30 Bundesliga games plus. He sets the tempo from the back, completing 87.6 per cent of his 60.3 passes per game.
If Korb is played in midfield, Jantschke will move to right-back meaning his backup could be Christensen.
Martin Stranzl: 34-year-old Austrian is getting better as he ages.
Immense in the air and a leader on the field, Stranzl is to Borussia Monchengladbach what Terry is to Chelsea.
Injuries derailed a series of acclaimed displays from Stranzl.
Roel Brouwers: 33-year-old Dutchman is a stalwart, is content filling in and embodies the next-man-up theory.
He has seen Borussia Monchengladbach go from being one wrong result away from relegation to the 2. Bundesliga to qualifying for the UEFA Champions League.
- Bild Bundesliga Player Ranking: No. 28.
- Kicker Bundesliga Player Ranking: N/A (rating in theory placed him at No. 30).
Alvaro Dominguez: 26-year-old Spaniard is a so-near-and-yet-so-far player.
He is gifted, but keeps falling short, which summed up his Atletico Madrid tenure.
Interchanging from centre-back to left-back, Dominguez experienced regular back problems towards the end of the season.
If Chelsea want Christensen to play for Borussia Monchengladbach II in the Regionalliga West (German fourth division), then green-light the transfer.
Is Borussia Monchengladbach manager Lucien Favre fine with loan signings?
Yes, though under one condition.
“We were interested in [Kevin De Bruyne] and wanted him on a six-month loan [from Chelsea], but his agent [Patrick De Koster] just laughed at our offer,” Favre said, per the Rheinische Post (h/t Sky Sports). “I think the only way is for us to invest even more in young players.”
If Christensen signs on loan at Borussia Monchengladbach, he will be treated as a project, which was how Christoph Kramer and Thorgan Hazard were initially perceived.
Except Kramer and Hazard made instant positive impressions, which is the one condition Favre demands.
Kramer became one of the best midfielders in the Bundesliga and Hazard registered seven assists while only starting 25 per cent of games he was involved in.
Borussia Monchengladbach extended Hazard’s loan into a permanent deal (Chelsea retain a buyback option).
Why is Borussia Monchengladbach director of sport Max Eberl allegedly interested in Christensen?
- Chelsea will subsidised a portion of Christensen’s salary = economic efficiency.
- Christensen is signed on loan = low risk, high reward.
- Only 19 years of age = potential successor to Brouwers as No. 1 backup.
Conversely, if Christensen fails to prove his worth imminently, he could be another Joshua King.
Signed on loan from Manchester United in 2011, King was not ready for the Bundesliga.
Subsequently, King was given the cold shoulder by Favre, who is known for his “nothing personal, it’s just business” approach to man management, per Richard Sutcliffe at the Yorkshire Post:
I was promised this and that [by Borussia Monchengladbach] but when I got there, [Favre] didn’t even know me.
It meant the the first half of this season was a nightmare for me. I realised quickly that [Favre] didn’t want me there. I couldn’t get in the team and I lost all my confidence.
It was all politics. [Eberl] wanted to sign me but [Favre] had his team already. To be fair to him, they are third in the Bundesliga and doing well.
But I had to think of myself. It was a year-long loan and I had gone there to play. So, it was agreed I could come back [to Manchester United].
Playing with Denmark at the UEFA European Under-21 Championship, Christensen will savour stability.
After the tournament, Christensen’s career will be at the mercy of Chelsea, a club with a capricious policy to developing prospects.
When not specified, statistics via WhoScored.
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