Despite there being rumors of him wanting to leave Chelsea, Andreas Christensen has confirmed with BT that he will return to London and join up with the rest of the squad for the pre-season.
The Danish defender has spent his last two seasons at German side Borussia Monchengladbach, where he has caught the attention of many. Monchengladbach made a few attempts to make the loan deal permanent, including a bid reported for £14.25 million, but Chelsea were keen to keep him.
Coming back to England
Rumours swirled that the young defender would ask for a move elsewhere (or to stay at Monchengladbach), but he has confirmed he will return to Chelsea.
Christensen told BT "I will join up with Chelsea on July 7."
"The sports director says the plan is that I meet like all the others and go through the pre-season."
Time well spent in Germany
At the start of his loan many Chelsea supporters kept an eye on him as they knew he had potential. After a successful first season where he was voted as the team's Player of the Season (ahead of then captain and now Arsenal midfielder Granit Xhaka) and helped the team to a Champions League play-off spot.
Although the 2016-2017 season saw Die Fohlen slip to ninth place in the Bundesliga and a third place finish in their Champions League group, they made it to the Europa League round of 16 before they were knocked out by fellow German side Schalke 04.
Christensen has now earned eleven international call-ups to the Danish National Team, most recently a good performance against world champions Germany.
While he has earned the title of a good defender, he will have to compete with the likes of Kurt Zouma, Gary Cahill, David Luiz, and Nathan Ake for a starting position. Antonio Conte will definitely have his hands full this upcoming season, but will have the pre-season to experiment.