Christensen Has Coming Of Age With Denmark And New Chelsea Deal Should Follow as that added to his performance.
Andreas Christensen is in that zone now. A player whose abundant promise, flagged since he arrived in West London from Brondby as a 16-year-old, has been hitherto met by numerous hurdles is coming of age before our eyes and as a consequence potentially altering Chelsea’s defensive plans come the new season.
Christensen’s rocket-propelled goal against Russia may be his unquestionable highlight of Euro 2020 but he has excelled as part of one of the tournament’s meanest defences.
England are yet to concede and Italy were only breached deep in extra time against Austria last Saturday, yet metrics such as expected goals against point to Denmark being the second most solid rearguard after the Azzurri.
The Finland defeat will always carry an asterisk on account of the distress around Christian Eriksen’s collapse, while Belgium needed to summon magic from Kevin De Bruyne in their second game.
There seems an increased assuredness to his play and while there had been clear evidence of strides being made under Thomas Tuchel another leap seems to have been taken in the past three weeks.
He has always looked smooth but past fears of a brain fade or being caught out of position at an inopportune moment are diminishing fast.
Christensen only turned 25 in April, still young for an elite centre back, and the big question is whether this spell can carry into next season. Is there more development to come or is this a purple patch unlikely to be surpassed?
No matter the answer the answer will arrive when in a Chelsea shirt. When Denmark’s campaign ends talks over a new contract are likely to progress quickly.
The club wants him to extend his stay beyond a deal that presently concludes next summer and the player has no desire to be anywhere else.
But Christensen’s tournament points to him returning to a more integral role in Thomas Tuchel’s setup. Perhaps those who framed him as the long-term replacement for John Terry a few years back were right after all.
