Cesar Azpilicueta to stay at Chelsea after signing new two-year deal

Chelsea captain Cesar Azpilicueta has signed a new contract to stay at Stamford Bridge until 2024.

Azpilicueta had been heavily linked with a move to Barcelona this summer, with the La Liga side desperate to sign the defender.

However, new Chelsea owner Todd Boehy was desperate to hold onto the 32-year-old, reportedly blocking the proposed transfer, while Barcelona also have interest in fellow Blues defender Marcos Alonso.

But according to The Athletic, Azpilicueta has agreed a new deal to extend his stay at Chelsea to beyond a decade, having first moved to West London in 2012 from Marseille.

Following the departures of Andreas Christensen and Antonio Rudiger, Thomas Tuchel has been left short defensively and with Kalidou Koulibaly the only signing in that area this summer, the club are unwilling to let any other defenders go.

There is also much friction between Chelsea and Barcelona at the moment, after the Catalans signed Christensen on a free and hijacked the Blues’ transfer of centre-back Jules Kounde.

It has been a difficult summer for the Blues, having missed out on not only Kounde but several other defensive targets like Matthijs de Light, who opted to join Bayern Munich from Juventus instead, and Nathan Ake who decided to stay at Manchester City rather than return to Chelsea.

A £50million deal for Marc Cucurella had looked all but done on Wednesday, only for Brighton to release a statement saying that no agreement had been reached to sell their player, but talks are still ongoing.

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