Andreas Christensen pulled out of Chelsea FA Cup final defeat against Liverpool ahead of Barcelona switch - Paper Round

Andreas Christensen “shocked” his Chelsea team-mates after making himself unavailable for selection on the day of the FA Cup final. The 26-year-old was previously feeling unwell during the week and ruled himself out of the trip to Wembley – despite being declared fit to play. Christensen “disappeared from the team hotel on Saturday morning” which left his Chelsea team-mates “shocked and confused”. The Denmark defender is expected to join Barcelona this summer as a free agent after failing to reach an agreement to extend his contract at Stamford Bridge.

Paper Round’s view: There might be more to this story, but it does not look good for Christensen at the moment. Chelsea were already short on centre-back options and started 22-year-old Trevoh Chalobah in defence. Christensen has left his manager and team-mates short in an important match just because he is off this summer. Surely every professional footballer wants to play in cup finals. It makes no sense. Even if he was actually injured, he should have stayed with the squad at the hotel and then travelled to the match to support his team-mates.

Paul Pogba could be set for a sensational return to Juventus this summer, according to Goal. The Manchester United midfielder will leave Old Trafford as a free agent at the end of the season after failing to agree a contract extension with the club. Goal report that Pogba’s entourage will meet with Juventus on Monday in order to explore a potential deal that could see the World Cup winner return to Turin. Juve face fierce competition from Paris Saint-Germain, who will be able to meet Pogba’s eye-watering wage demands of €11 million net person season.

Paper Round’s view: Pogba has struggled to find a consistent level of form during his time in England, but he will be confident of being able to move to one of Europe’s top clubs this summer because he knows he is still an elite-level footballer. He just needs to re-discover his confidence. This could be an advantage for Juventus. Pogba was happy in Turin. He felt at home. Sentimental reasons could push Pogba to return to Juventus this summer ahead of PSG. However, France is also his home. It will be interesting to see if Pogba returns to his previous form when leaving United.

Frenkie de Jong has informed Barcelona that he does not want to leave the club this summer, despite reports linking him with a transfer to the Premier League. The Netherlands international has been linked with Manchester United, Manchester City and Bayern Munich, but De Jong is hoping to stick around at Barcelona beyond the summer. Barca boss Xavi is also keen to keep the 25-year-old and he has told De Jong that he wants him at the club next season. However, the Barcelona board view De Jong as a potential sacrifice due to his high transfer value.

Paper Round’s view: Basically, it seems like Barcelona’s board believe De Jong is expendable due to the emergence of both Pedri and Gavi – so are now willing to sell the Dutch midfielder this summer in order to raise transfer funds to strengthen elsewhere. It’s an easy position to take up now, but the club need to remember that Sergio Busquets turns 34 years old this summer and De Jong is a great fit to be the heir to the Spaniard’s throne. Xavi wants to keep De Jong, so the club should work with him to find a solution to their transfer budgeting problems for the summer.

Robert Lewandowski is edging closer to a summer move to Barcelona, according to Spanish media outlet Sport. The Bayern Munich striker announced his desire to leave the Bundesliga club on Saturday and all parties are keen to resolve the situation as soon as possible. Lewandowski’s agent Pini Zahavi plans to hold a meeting with Bayern and will later hold talks with Barcelona about the possibility of moving to the Camp Nou. The 33-year-old striker is likely to command a transfer fee of around €40 million if he moves this summer.

Paper Round’s view: This transfer has been rumoured for a while, but Lewandowski’s admission over the weekend of wanting to leave Bayern Munich in pursuit of a new challenge has really kicked things into gear. The Bundesliga champions won’t want to lose their talisman – especially without a real plan to replace him this summer. Lewandowski is under contract until 2023 so Bayern could decide to keep him for another season then allow him to leave for free next summer. We saw the same thing with the Poland international at his previous club Borussia Dortmund before he moved to Bavaria.