Malmo manager Jon Dahl Tomasson believes that Chelsea defender Andreas Christensen is “one of the best” heading into their Champions League reunion on Wednesday night.
The 45-year-old coach worked with Christensen in the Denmark set up when he was assistant coach for the national team. He then made the switch to Sweden to manage Malmo in 2020, and they will meet once again at Stamford Bridge.
Ahead of the match, the manager said: “Andreas Christensen is one of the best defenders around.
“It’s always good for the Scandinavian countries to have players coming across and making the grade in the Premier League.
“He’s had a great journey and has done tremendously well.
“The way he’s playing and the way he’s been playing here under the new manager, he’s been a great inspiration for a lot of Danish people.
“And not only the Danish people but also for a lot of Chelsea fans – he’s a top-class defender.”
Christensen, 25, joined the Blues in 2012 to join the academy from Brondby in Denmark. Since then, he has gone on to make more than 130 competitive appearances for the club, winning an FA Cup, a UEFA Champions League, a UEFA Europa League and the UEFA Super Cup in something of an unsung hero role.
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The centre-back has become a key player for his national team too, featuring heavily in their European Championships semi-final run and their World Cup qualification that resulted in the team not conceding a single goal in the group.
The 25-year-old is, however, out-of-contract in the summer meaning he will be free to leave once it ends or he can begin negotiating a deal with clubs abroad in January on a pre-contractual agreement.
It will be seen as an issue for Thomas Tuchel and the hierarchy in negotiating a new deal, especially for a defender regarded as “one of the best”.
