ANDREAS CHRISTENSEN is ready to sign a new deal with Chelsea – after initially being offered a pay CUT.
Christensen has finalised talks with the European champions with the finer points over a new deal thought to be worth £120,000-a-week now being rubber stamped before an official announcement.
It was a fitting reward for the way the 25-year-old has responded to being touted around for sale 18 months ago to now being a first team regular at Stamford Bridge.
But SunSport understands the Danish defender had initially been so under-valued by the club they tabled an initial contract offer which was lower than the current £78,000-a-week he earns.
That deal runs out at the end of this season and though the Blues were happy to keep him as a squad player at the time, they felt his role on the fringes was not worthy of a top salary.
Since then Christensen has made such dramatic strides, particularly under Thomas Tuchel, he is now seen as integral to the defence.
And when it came to a defender being offloaded it was Kurt Zouma who got the chop, joining West Ham in a £29.7million move last month.
Christensen has started four out of Chelsea’s five Premier League games this season as the club sit top of the table.
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He has also featured in the Uefa Super Cup victory against Villarreal as well as the Champions League group stage win over Zenit Saint-Petersburg.
Following his impressive display in the 3-0 away win at Tottenham on Sunday, boss Tuchel waxed lyrical over the defender.
Speaking after the game, the German gaffer was asked how important Christensen has become for him.
To which he said: “Andreas has been very strong since day one, can play in all three positions in the defence and he plays with a lot of confidence.
“In the beginning, I had the feeling it was a bit of push to believe in himself and impose himself and trust in his quality because he has everything that we need in these positions.
“Again a very strong performance. You can see it in the minutes.
“We rely fully on him and he’s doing very, very good so far and it is everybody’s target that he continues like this.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
