Chelsea: Andreas Christensen set to go on loan to Borussia Monchengladbach

Chelsea defender Andreas Christensen is reportedly close to departing the Blues for a season long loan with German club Borussia Monchengladbach.

According to the Daily Mail, the Denmark U21 international is awaiting final clearance from the Premier League champions before he can complete his move to the Bundesliga side.

Christensen signed for Chelsea in 2012 from Danish side FC Brondby and has been impressive for the Blues' youth sides this campaign providing four assists during their triumphant Uefa Youth League campaign.

The 19-year-old defender is highly regarded by Jose Mourinho, and made his Premier League debut during the 3-1 win over Sunderland in the final game of the 2014/15 campaign. The Portuguese manager is keen to send the defender out on loan to get the experience of playing first-team football on a regular basis.

The former Real Madrid boss has admitted that he will bring in a few of the impressive youngsters at the club into the first-team, but also wants some of the older players in the group to go out on loan and experience playing for the senior team either in the Premier League or the Championship.

"Some of the older ones will go on loan to play every game in the Championship or the Premier League, even abroad. And we will bring some of the younger ones into the process. But to have them all at the same time in the first-team squad is hard," Mourinho said, as quoted by the Daily Mail.

"I cannot have a squad of 10 men and 10 kids. I must have a squad like we have now of 16 or 17 seniors and three or four kids," the Portuguese manager added.

Apart from Christensen, French defender Kurt Zouma is also a subject of interest from Serie A side Sampdoria, with the president confirming their interest in taking the defender on a season-long loan to Italy.