Front page report claims Barcelona make ‘formal offer’ for January transfer, player wants move

Ernesto Valverde wants Barcelona to bring in a defender if Samuel Umtiti is forced to spend more time on the sidelines.

The Blaugrana are not interested in taking any risk, which is why they are planning to sign a centre-back on a loan deal in January.

Earlier this month, Sport reported Andreas Christensen of Chelsea was one of the priorities for Barcelona in the winter market.

The front page of the same publication has an update on the La Liga winners’ interest in the centre-back and they have made a ‘formal offer’ for the Danish international.

It’s claimed the two clubs have started negotiations for the 22-year-old, but they are far away from reaching an agreement for a player, who is the Camp Nou outfit’s priority target for next month.

Barca are looking at taking the west London club’s defender on a temporary deal with a view to buy and the Spanish champions have found out from Christensen’s environment that he is ‘enthusiastic’ with this option and is willing to join them.

The Catalan newspaper mentions the FA Cup winners have turned down Barcelona’s offer for their player.

However, the west London club could consider if there is a proposal for a sale, something their counterparts in Spain are unwilling to do since they do not want to invest in the mid-season transfer window.

Sport claims Christensen will try to push for a transfer in the next few days, but Valverde’s side do not have more time to wait because they want to bring in a central defender quickly, in case Umtiti is forced to go under the knife.