The future of César Azpilicueta remains unclear. He’s not talking about it. Rumors says he’s ready to sign with Barcelona. Even old pal Cesc Fàbregas seems to believe that’s “almost done”.
At the same time, Azpilicueta is said to be happy in London (as are his family) and is supposedly wanting to meet first with the Chelsea powers that be — Tuchel has made it clear some time ago that Azpi controls his own fate — and now we have a couple reports that Chelsea might even have a “unilateral” option to extend the 32-year-old captain’s contract.
Wait? What!?
Marca say this option is for two years, which makes little sense. Never seen that before. EFE’s report (via Sport) makes a bit more sense, since they say the length of the option may be just one year. Both reports agree that it’s a unilateral deal in the club’s control, and the latter add that it’s largely intended to prevent Azpilicueta for leaving for absolutely nothing.
If that sounds familiar, it’s because it’s the exact situation we had with Olivier Giroud this time last year. His expiring contract was also extended unilaterally in the spring, before leaving for AC Milan for a token transfer fee in the summer anyway. It’s easy to envision a similar scenario playing out with Azpilicueta.
That said, given Dave’s legendary service to the club, it’s unlikely that we would put up too many barriers (financial or otherwise) for him if he does indeed decide to leave. And if he wants to say, we would surely welcome that with open arms.
El #mercato para el Barça según @cesc4official en @JijantesFC
— Gerard Romero (@gerardromero) February 10, 2022
Opciones de Azpi y Christensen del Chelsea pic.twitter.com/1rMtoxQT73
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