Andreas Christensen

Andreas Bodtker Christensen is a Danish professional footballer who plays as a centre back for  La Liga club Barca  and the Denmark national team.

Christensen is a tall, ball-playing centre-back, Andreas Christensen joined Chelsea’s academy as a teenager and graduated to become a valued member of the first-team squad.

He possesses composure on and off the ball, physical strength, aerial ability and awareness in equal measures, making him an all-rounder who has shown himself to be an accomplished full-back and defensive midfielder, in addition to his more familiar role at centre-back.

From 2015 to 2017 he was loaned to Bundesliga club Borussia Mönchengladbach, where he made 82 appearances and scored 7 goals.

Christensen was born in Lillerød, Allerød Municipality. The son of former Brøndby IF goalkeeper Sten Christensen, he began his career with Brøndby IF. He spent eight years there, attracting the interest of Europe's elite clubs including Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City, and Bayern Munich.

Christensen signed for Chelsea on a free transfer on February 7th 2012.

After signing a professional contract in the summer of 2012, he spent 2013/14 working predominantly with Dermot Drummy’s Under-21s group, featuring on 25 occasions as they topped the table and then won the league play-offs

Christensen’s impressive first campaign earned him a spot on the bench for the final game of the season against Everton and, while he did not enter the fray to make a senior appearance, he was involved in a post-season tour to the USA.

Having played throughout the senior squad's pre-season, he was named as a member of Jose Mourinho's squad for the 2014/15 campaign and made his Chelsea debut in our fourth-round Capital One Cup victory at Shrewsbury with a full 90 mins performance at right-back.

He continued to be a mainstay of the defence until the final weeks of the season, gaining valuable experience against some of the top teams in England and Europe. His efforts were recognised at the end-of-season awards when he was named Chelsea's Young Player of the Year after a wonderful breakthrough campaign for the Dane.

However, an untimely injury forced the Dane to miss November 2019, and on his return, he had to be patient for his return to the starting XI, especially with Rudiger also back in contention.

For the 2020-21 season, until the dismissal of Frank Lampard did he see some action, Thomas Tuchel, the German tactician who replaced Lampard has been interested in giving every player a go at it.

After Thiago Silva was subbed off against Wolves on Tuchel's first match at Chelsea, Christensen was given a green light to come on board.

Christensen represented Denmark at Under-16, Under-17, Under-19 and Under-21 level prior to becoming a full international, making his Under-21 debut at just 17 years old.

In October 2014, he helped his nation qualify for the Under-21 European Championships in 2015 after a two-legged play-off success against Iceland.

Ahead of participation in that tournament, he was elevated into the senior squad and made his debut for the full Denmark side on 8 June 2015, coming on in the second half of a home friendly win over Montenegro. That was quickly followed by four matches at the European Under-21 Championship finals where Denmark made the semi-finals.

Christensen earned further full Denmark caps in 2016, including his first start, although his nation lost a Euro 2016 qualification play-off with Sweden with the young player an unused sub.

His form for Monchengladbach during the 2016/17 season meant he gained further senior recognition for Denmark, and he played in his country's successful 2018 World Cup play-off tie against the Republic of Ireland, helping force the crucial first goal in a handsome win in Dublin.

Christensen started every game at the 2018 World Cup for Denmark as they reached the last-16, where they were beaten on penalties by Croatia.

On a final note, the youngster enjoyed a fine tournament and started every game, with his versatility meaning he also played a deep midfield role at times as well as performing in central defence.

He joined barcelona on July 2022.