Barcelona have been credited with interest in Cesar Azpilicueta for a while, reportedly hoping to sign the defender on a free transfer when his contract with Chelsea expires at the end of the season. According to Fabrizio Romano, the Catalan club have now stepped up their interest by offering the 32-year-old a two-year contract.
Chelsea are still hopeful of the 36-cap Spain international signing a new deal and staying put, but as of yet, neither they nor Barcelona have received any indication of what the player intends to do at the end of the season. It seems Azpilicueta is yet to make his mind up.
Azpilicueta will have spent a full decade at Stamford Bridge come summer, having joined the Blues from Olympique Marseille in 2012 for a reported fee of £8 million. Since then, he’s gone on to play a total of 459 games for the London Blues, scoring 15 goals and laying on 56 assists. His contribution to everything Chelsea have achieved in that time – two Premier League titles, one FA Cup, one League Cup, two Europa League trophies, the 2021 Champions League followed by the UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup – was immense.
Quite apart from Azpilicueta, Barcelona are said to be interested in Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen, also Chelsea defenders whose contracts are about to expire and who are no nearer to agreeing new deals than Azpilicueta at the moment. However, the two centre-backs are objects of reported interest from other top clubs around Europe too, and the Catalans may find it harder to secure the services of either in the summer.
Barcelona have offered César Azpilicueta a two year deal with option to extend for a further season. Talks started in December but Barça are still waiting for Azpilicueta to make final decision. 🔵🇪🇸 #FCB
Chelsea hope for Azpi to stay but still no communication on player side. pic.twitter.com/AKThj9n4C6
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) February 18, 2022
