Andreas Christensen

Andreas Bødtker Christensen (born 10 April 1996) is a Danish professional footballer who plays as a centre-back or defensive midfielder for La Liga club Barcelona and the Denmark national team.

Christensen began his career at Skjold Birkerød and later joined Brøndby.

He joined Chelsea at the age of 15 in February 2012, making his professional debut in October 2014.

On 7 February 2012, Christensen signed for Chelsea on a free transfer, near the end of André Villas-Boas' tenure as the club's manager.

Upon joining the London side, Christensen said: "I have chosen Chelsea because they play the kind of football I like.”

Christensen was first included in a Chelsea senior squad for their last game of the 2012–13 season on 19 May 2013, but did not feature in the match, which ended a 2–1 home win over Everton in Rafael Benítez's last match as manager.

In the pre-season tour of the United States before the 2013–14 season, he was part of the senior team squad and signed a professional contract thereafter.

He made his professional debut on 28 October 2028, playing only 79 minutes at right-back as Chelsea won 2–1 away to Shrewsbury Town in the fourth round of the League Cup.

Christensen made his full international debut for Denmark in June 2015, and represented the nation at the 2018 FIFA World Cup, UEFA Euro 2020 and the 2022 World Cup.

Christensen was born in Lillerød, Allerød Municipality.

The son of former Brøndby goalkeeper Sten Christensen, he began his career with Skjold Birkerød and later joined Brøndby.

He spent eight years there, attracting the interest of Europe's elite clubs including Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City, and Bayern Munich.

Christensen did not play again until 24 January 2015, when he was utilised in the same position for Chelsea's 4–2 home defeat to League One team Bradford City in the FA Cup fourth round.

Although Christensen played no further part in the campaign, Chelsea won the League Cup with a 2–0 victory over rival club Tottenham Hotspur in the final.

When asked who was man of the match for the final, manager José Mourinho said, "Man of the match was Andreas Christensen who played well against Shrewsbury. There are more than John Terry (the official Man of the match for the final) because we are a team. I am proud of the guys."

On 13 April 2015, Christensen played for Chelsea U19 in the final of the 2014–15 UEFA Youth League against Shakhtar Donetsk in Switzerland and although he scored an own goal to cancel out Izzy Brown's opener in the first-half, Chelsea still ended with a 3–2 victory.

He made his Premier League debut against Sunderland on 24 May, replacing Mikel John Obi with 12 minutes remaining in a 3–1 home victory.

Although Christensen only made one league appearances out of the whole season, Mourinho stated that he would receive a replica medal from his club for his contributions this season.

On 10 July 2015, Christensen joined Borussia Mönchengladbach on a two-year loan deal from Chelsea.

He made his debut on 10 August against FC St. Pauli in the first round of the DFB-Pokal, winning 4–1.

Five days later, Christensen made his Bundesliga debut in a 4–0 loss at Borussia Dortmund.

He scored his first professional goals on 5 February 2016, a brace in a 5–1 win over Werder Bremen at Borussia-Park.

After an impressive debut season, Christensen was voted the team's Player of the Season, ahead of Granit Xhaka, the team captain.

After the success of his first season, Mönchengladbach made multiple attempts to make his loan permanent during the 2016 summer transfer window, although it was reported that Chelsea rejected the £14.25 million bid from the German club.

In the 2016–17 UEFA Europa League, Christensen scored the final goal of a 4–2 win away to Fiorentina in the second leg of the last 32 to assure a 4–3 aggregate win.

He was on target again in the next round against neighbours Schalke, who won on away goals after a 3–3 aggregate draw.

After a two-year loan to German club Borussia Mönchengladbach, he returned to Chelsea in 2017, winning the FA Cup, UEFA Europa League and UEFA Champions League with the club.

In 2022, he was signed by Barcelona, where he won La Liga in his debut season.

On 12 August 2017, Christensen made his first appearance for Chelsea following his two-year loan spell in Germany, coming off the bench following captain Gary Cahill being sent off, in Chelsea's 3–2 opening day home defeat against Burnley.

Eight days later, he made his first Premier League start in a 2–1 victory over Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley Stadium.

Christensen made 40 appearances for the Blues in 2017–18, including three in the victorious FA Cup campaign.

However, a back injury meant he was not involved in the final.

Prior to the season's finish, he was awarded the club's Young Player of the Year award.

On 9 January 2018, Christensen signed a new four-and-half-year deal with Chelsea running until 2022, after establishing himself in the first team.

New manager Maurizio Sarri preferred to pair David Luiz and Antonio Rüdiger in central defence, and by February 2019 Christensen had made 15 appearances, only two of which in the league.

However, he ruled out wanting to leave the club.

On 29 May 2021, Christensen replaced the injured Thiago Silva in the 39th minute as he won his first-ever UEFA Champions League after Chelsea won 1–0 against Manchester City in the 2021 UEFA Champions League Final in Porto.

On 20 October 2021, Christensen scored his first goal for Chelsea in a 4–0 win against Malmö FF in the group stage of the Champions League.

On 4 July 2022, Christensen signed for La Liga club Barcelona in a free transfer on a four-year contract with a buyout clause of €500 million.

On 13 August, he made his debut in 0–0 draw against Rayo Vallecano in the league.