Explained: the stand-off between Chelsea and Christensen over a new contract (2024)

As Chelsea’s prolonged bid to keep Andreas Christensen continues, Thomas Tuchel has decided to get involved and apply some pressure on one of his players for the first time.

The subject of Christensen’s contract situation came up during the pre-match press conference before the fixture at Watford and Tuchel decided to play the blame game.

Chelsea’s head coach made it pretty clear who he regards as responsible for the delay in something being finalised.

“I have no good news,” Tuchel said. “It was my understanding weeks ago that Andreas wants the same as me (for him to stay at Stamford Bridge). And he wants the same as the club. That’s why, for me, it was a zero problem because everyone wanted the same.

“But we have been waiting a long time now for confirmation and it’s on Andreas to act how he acts on the pitch. He needs to act now off the pitch and walk the talk because he tells us he loves Chelsea, tells us that he wants to stay and be a big part — and he is a big part of a big club. I think he is a perfect fit. I think he is not done yet here. His career here is not finished. He can still develop and be a big, big player. But it’s on him. We need and want the commitment. Hopefully, we get it.”

Tuchel knows what he’s doing by going public. Judging by the early response on social media, the majority of Chelsea fans already regard Christensen as the bad guy. “If he doesn’t want to sign, then leave,” reflects a lot of the sentiment.

He’s also now being compared unfavourably to Trevoh Chalobah, who signed a four-and-a-half-year contract last month. That was a good news story but the scenarios of the two Chelsea academy graduates are hardly the same. One is enjoying their first season in the senior squad and the other is a seasoned pro having made 140 appearances in four years. The ease of the discussions was always going to differ.

In other words, the process is not quite as simple as Tuchel makes out.

Just because Christensen wants to remain with the European champions, it doesn’t mean he should sell himself short and accept a contract offer they have made.That is what negotiating is all about.

However, it is also understandable why the Chelsea hierarchy and Tuchel are feeling a little frustrated.

Back in August, a five-year contract worth around £140,000-a-week was practically agreed, only for some minor details to hold up proceedings. Christensen continued to intimate that finalising an extension was his priority and that he was not interested in talking to other clubs about a move, so there was optimism it was close to being sorted out.

Yet the 25-year-old was still entitled to give the terms of the deal some more thought and have a slight change of heart. Obviously, £140,000-a-week is pretty good as a Premier League salary, but in the Chelsea dressing room, it is less than half what his best-paid team-mates are getting.

Rightly or wrongly, the vast majority of defenders make significantly less than attacking players. The size of the disparity doesn’t seem particularly fair at Chelsea when you consider how much Tuchel’s success has been built on the club’s defensive record — 31 clean sheets and 25 goals conceded in 51 games — and Christensen has been a big part of that.

If Christensen signs a five-year deal now, he will be 30 when it expires. That prospect inevitably leads to concern. Once a player gets to that kind of age, they have more difficulty negotiating a pay rise because their career is seen as being in its latter stages. He is also going to be wary of Chelsea buying someone new in future and putting them on a better salary than they’re giving him.

So having had a chance to reflect on the situation, Chelsea were made a counter-offer.

Both were geared toward Christensen remaining at the club. The first option put to Chelsea was a five-year contract with the proviso of a higher wage, although it would still be significantly less than the sums Romelu Lukaku, Kai Havertz, N’Golo Kante and Timo Werner are earning (which is around £290,000-a-week-£340,000-a-week). Should Chelsea be adamant about the £140,000-a-week sum, then Christensen indicated he was willing to agree a three-year deal with the prospect of negotiating with them again further down the line.

Neither option appealed to Chelsea, but they did recently decide to concede to his three-year wish. However, the financial side of things remains a stumbling block and with longer to think about it, Christensen also decided he wanted a longer commitment.

This latest change of stance is the source of Tuchel’s angst, but it is just a sign of a player wanting to make sure he gets a very important decision right that affects his future rather than going back on his word about the club he wants to play for.

The two parties are still in talks over a four-year arrangement and that leads to hope a resolution can still be found. But by pointing the finger at Christensen and questioning whether he means what he says about his love of Chelsea, Tuchel is taking a bit of a risk he could upset a player that he surely needs during the club’s bid for silverware this season. He hasn’t taken the same stance with fellow centre-back Antonio Rudiger, who is also out of contract in the summer and is even further away from signing a new agreement.

Germany international Rudiger has continued in the starting line-up too, whereas Christensen has been on the bench for the last three matches.

It led to some conspiracy theorists among the fanbase to speculate whether these omissions are a tactic to put Christensen under strain to sign a contract.Remarkably, Tuchel has pretty much confirmed that is exactly what he is doing.

Tuchel was asked whether he feared his selection policy would harm his chances of keeping the player. He replied: “No, the opposite. We have to hope it influences the contract situation a little bit. As I understood it the club wants the same, the player wants the same and the coach wants the same — (for Christensen) to stay. That’s why we need the commitment and then we can continue.”

Many of Europe’s leading clubs will be monitoring the situation and thinking they now have a chance of getting Christensen on a free transfer. A month from now, he can talk to teams abroad and agree a pre-contract to move on a Bosman in the summer.

Chelsea may think he has gone back on what was being finalised four months ago and didn’t take the opportunity to resolve things recently.

A more pressing concern is how much would it cost them to replace a defender as good as Christensen if he does leave. Hehas won four major trophies at the club, including playing the majority of the Champions League final back in May, and at 25 is arguably yet to reach his peak. If Chelsea wanted to get a centre-half of a similar calibre, it would cost an awful lot more than an estimated £40 million to 45 million in wages they’d have to pay Christensen to sign a five-year contract.

One only has to look at last summer, when they bid €50 million (£42.6 million) for Sevilla’s Jules Kounde. They would then have had to provide a large sum on top of that to meet wage requirements over five years, which is the length of contract Chelsea tend to give all their new signings.

Kounde is a France international, but is two years younger than Christensen and would possibly need time to adapt to the Premier League. There is still a possibility Kounde could come next year, given there is a good chance Rudiger will leave. But the last thing Chelsea will want is to have to spend money on two top-class replacements at centre-back in one window.

Chelsea don’t want to be held to ransom by anyone. That’s fair enough. They have a wage bill to keep under control. But surely it would be best for all concerned if they find a way to convince Christensen to stay and not make him out to be some kind of greedy mercenary in the process?

Losing Christensen is too big a price to pay.

(Photo: Michael Regan/Getty Images)

Simon Johnson has spent the majority of his career as a sports reporter since 2000 covering Chelsea, firstly for Hayters and then the London Evening Standard. This included going to every game home and away as the west London club secured the Champions League in 2012. He has also reported on the England national team between 2008-19 and been a regular contributor to talkSPORT radio station for over a decade. Follow Simon on Twitter @SJohnsonSport