Man Utd and Newcastle monitoring ball-playing Barcelona defender
Premier League pair Manchester United and Newcastle are two of a number of sides keeping tabs on Barcelona centre-back Andreas Christensen, reports Spanish publication Sport.
Christensen, who has been named Danish Player of the Year for 2023, only moved to Barcelona last summer but a return to England has been mooted.
Both United and Newcastle are looking to strengthen at centre-back where possible though they are unlikely to make a move for Christensen in January and instead pursue the Denmark international in the summer.
Christensen has been a key player for Barcelona following his arrival from Chelsea last year, starting 14 of 19 league matches.
In that time, Christensen has returned a pass success rate of 95.9%, that better than any other player in Europe's top five leagues this season.
🎯 Andreas Christensen has a better pass success rate (95.9%) than any other player in Europe's top 5 leagues this season pic.twitter.com/XijjtHYWHN
— WhoScored.com (@WhoScored) January 7, 2024
Barcelona would be keen to retain the 27-year-old but their well-publicised financial issues means they may be forced into selling the Danish defender in the off-season.
Blaugrana boss Xavi has a wealth of centre-back options at his disposal which may soften the blow of potentially cashing in on Christensen in the summer.