Barcelona hit financial roadblock in pursuit of veteran Chelsea defender

Barcelona have been working on a deal to secure the signing of Chelsea captain Cesar Azpilicueta for quite some time now.

The 32-year-old, who is currently in his tenth year at Stamford Bridge, has just a little over three months left on his contract with the club.

And, widespread reports have claimed that the Spaniard is keen on moving to Camp Nou and has already reached an agreement to join the club. However, there has been a recent setback in the Catalan giants’ pursuit of the versatile defender.

According to Mundo Deportivo, Chelsea are upset with Barcelona’s publicised pursuit of Azpilicueta and Andreas Christensen. And they could now take an action that could create a roadblock for the Blaugrana.

Christensen’s contract also expires in the summer and the Blues cannot stop the Dane from signing Barcelona, with his move believed to be finalised imminently.

However, with Azpilicueta, the reigning European and World champions have an option to trigger a one-year extension on his contract, which would stop the former Marseille man from leaving on a free transfer at the end of the season.

In such a scenario, Barça will have to negotiate a transfer fee with Chelsea to sign Azpilicueta. The sum involved is unlikely to be very high, as his contract would stand to run out in 2023. But, it will take away some of the funds from the club’s transfer kitty for the summer.

Azpilicueta has won almost every trophy at the club level with Chelsea. And, as per the report, he would like to return to Spain and join forces with Xavi Hernandez. At the same time, though, the veteran defender would not be against continuing in London for another year.

So, Barcelona are now prepared to wait and see how the situation plays out before continuing their efforts to bring in the 32-year-old in the summer.