Both Chelsea and Borussia Mönchengladbach have, on Friday, confirmed that Andreas Christensen has joined the German club on a two-year loan. The Dane will receive the number three shirt previously worn by veteran left-back, and fan favourite, Filip Daems.
Christensen, who is just 19, will be hoping to gain more regular game time with the Foals. Gladbach are also keen to kick on from last season, where they finished an impressive third and sealed their long-awaited return to UEFA Champions League football.
Christensen has shown great promise in Chelsea's youth ranks
A centre-back who can play in almost every position across the defence, the Chelsea youngster made his first-team debut this term. After featuring in a Capital One Cup tie, Christensen went on to get game time in both the Barclays Premier League and FA Cup.
The 19-year-old was recently in the Czech Republic representing the Danish under-21 side as they reached the semi-finals of the 2015 UEFA under-21 European Championship. He has also represented the full national team on two occasions.
Speaking about the move to the official club website, sporting director Max Eberl called Christensen a "promising talent" and cited his ability to "cover a variety of positions" in the back four as a huge plus. He also admitted the club were "delighted" that they were able to finalise the move for the young Dane.
A series of new signings for the Foals
Christensen becomes the third young defender to join the Gladbach ranks this season. Nico Elvedi (FC Zürich) and Mandela Egbo (Crystal Palace) have already been signed up, with the former looking particularly promising.
Lucien Favre's side have made some more high-profile acquisitions, however. Lars Stindl and Josip Drmic are two signings that will greatly aid their quest to match, if not better, the previous exploits of 2014/15.