Barcelona reach agreement to sign Chelsea captain – report

According to reports in England (h/t Fichajes), Barcelona have reached a contract agreement with Chelsea captain Cesar Azpilicueta over a summer transfer.

The veteran defender is in the final few months of his contract with the west London outfit and has been heavily linked with a free transfer move to Barcelona at the end of the season.

However, there have been a few roadblocks along the way, most notably the one-year contract extension trigger option believed to be inserted in his current deal by Chelsea.

Nevertheless, that has seemingly not deterred Barça from going ahead with their interest in the 32-year-old defender. And as per the report, they have been able to strike an agreement with the Spanish international over a Bosman deal.

After spending the last ten years in England, the versatile defender is keen on returning to Spain in the summer. At the same time, he does not want to leave Chelsea on bad terms, especially at a time when the club is going through tough times due the sanctions placed by the UK Government.

With Andreas Christensen set to join Barcelona and Antonio Rudiger reportedly headed to Juventus, Chelsea will be left with just three frontline centre-backs in Trevoh Chalobah, Malang Sarr and Thiago Silva if Azpilicueta also leaves.

A move would thus become difficult if Chelsea decide to unilaterally extend his deal by another year. Despite that, the Spanish international has come to an agreement over a contract at Barça and will hope to convince his club to let him leave for free.

Able to play anywhere across the backline, Azpilicueta would add a lot of value to this Barcelona setup with his versatile nature, leadership and winning mentality. What now remains to be seen is if the move actually transpires at the end of the season.