Chelsea defender rules out summer exit

 

Andreas Christensen has performed a u-turn on his Chelsea future and no longer wants to leave the club.

 

The Denmark international grew disillusioned by a lack of playing time under Maurizio Sarri last season but enjoyed a run of games towards the end of the campaign.

 

Christensen partnered David Luiz at the back during the last two months of the campaign after Antonio Rudiger was sidelined with a knee injury.

 

With Sarri expected to leave Chelsea this summer, Christensen is happy to stay at Stamford Bridge and fight for his first-team spot next term.

 

“I’m not wondering about my future now and I haven’t done that for some time,” he told the London Evening Standard.

 

“I’m happy to be in London and, with the way the season has evolved, there’s no reason to think about it any more.

 

“I’m only 23, so it’s probably very wise to stay. It’s nice that there is peace and quiet and I can concentrate on playing football.

 

“I have always been happy but there have been times when I wanted to play more. If I can play as much in the future as I have done in the spring, then that’s fine.

 

“The end of the season has been as good as it could. I got a lot of playing time and we ended up winning a trophy, so it couldn’t be better.”

 

Chelsea defender rules out summer exit

 

 

With Rudiger not expected to be fully fit in time for the start of next season, coupled with the fact Chelsea currently cannot sign new players, Christensen should start 2019/20 as Chelsea’s first-choice centre-back along with Luiz.

 

Of players that started at least five Premier League games last season, only Manchester City duo John Stones (94.2%) and Vincent Kompany (93%) had a better pass success rate than Christensen (92.8%).