Barcelona agree terms to make defender first signing for 2022-23 season

Barcelona's desire to capture the top free agents on the market has led them to pursue a move for Chelsea's Andreas Christensen. The Catalan club have made huge progress in talks with the Danish defender's agents, and are now in the final process of completing the transfer.

The La Liga giants' financial troubles are no secret, and despite spending £55 million to sign Ferran Torres from Manchester City in January, they continue to seek bargain deals. Even last summer, Barcelona signed three players on free transfers with the fourth arriving on a season-long loan.

Barcelona are expected to go big to land Erling Braut Haaland this summer, which will leave them short of funds to bolster other areas of the squad. They are looking at the free transfer market to get an edge over their rivals, with defender Andreas Christensen and AC Milan midfielder Franck Kessie on top of their wish list.

According to Sport, the Catalan giants have all but signed a deal with Christensen to move to the Camp Nou in the summer. The Denmark international has refused an extension offer from Chelsea and wants to fulfil his long standing dream of joining the La Liga outfit. He was slated to join Barcelona two seasons ago, but it fell through.

Italian transfer expert Fabrizio Romano reports that Barcelona have improved their offer in order to conclude negotiations sooner rather than later. Christensen's agents are now said to be happy with the offer on the table, and have given their consent to the Catalan capital club to complete the deal in the coming weeks.

Bayern Munich are also interested in signing the 25-year-old midfielder, but are now behind Barcelona in the race for his signature. Christensen is expected to form a new look backline under Xavi next season, which also includes current defenders Ronald Araujo and Eric Garcia.