Spanish La Liga giants Barcelona are reportedly working really hard behind the scenes to assemble their future players as the summer transfer window continues to approach so fast. The Catalan giants have, according to reports, come close to completing the free transfer signing of Chelsea defender Andreas Christensen.
The 25-year-old is in the final few months of his contract at Stamford Bridge and having already completed part of his medical, he is expected to finalise a Bosman switch to Camp Nou imminently, before arriving at the club in the summer.
Now, Italian journalist and transfer expert Fabrizio Romano is claiming that the Catalan giants are far from done with their forays into the free-agent pool. Once the deal for Christensen is over the line, Barça will turn their focus on closing agreements to sign his Chelsea teammate and captain Cesar Azpilicueta, along with AC Milan midfielder Franck Kessie and AFC Ajax right-back Noussair Mazraoui.
Barcelona defender Gerard Pique has urged his teammates to be wary of the threat possessed by Chelsea despite their mixed performances since the turn of the year. The Blues ended a run of back-to-back defeats with victories over West Bromwich Albion and Hull City, and Pique is not taking the game likely with no wins in their previous seven meetings with the Capital outfit.
In a report covered by Four Four Two, Pique admitted that the Catalans have high expectations on their head, and though they go as favourites for the Champions League tie, a poor result against the Blues could turn their worse into one which is not so good.
Barcelona midfielder Andres Iniesta says that it is important to win in an attractive manner rather than just winning a football match.
After having come through the youth ranks at Barcelona, it is not surprising that Iniesta is the latest advocate for beautiful football. Barcelona have been criticised in recent weeks for overplaying in some of the matches. The club has been going through a poor run of form with just two wins in the last five matches of all competitions. As a result, they have slipped six points behind table leaders Real Madrid even before the season heads into the winter break.
Chelsea was knocked out of the Champions League after losing against PSG in the round of 16 stages of the European competition.
It was thrilling match from start till the very end and even though it was the French team that managed to come out on top with the victory as they secured their ticket into the quarter-finals of the Champions League, this triumph came at a cost as Zlatan Ibrahimovic received a red card and he will not be able to perform in the upcoming quarter-finals match of PSG against Barcelona.
Former Chelsea and Barcelona striker Eidur Gudjohnsen has said that Chelsea can easily overcome Barcelona at the Camp Nou, despite the fact that many has expressed their fears that Chelsea may be overrun in the second leg of the Champions League semi-final.
Chelsea will be looking to get into the Champions League final after a gap of four years.
