Man City transfer fear emerges as Barcelona’s Andreas Christensen suffers season-ending injury

Barcelona have announced that defender Andreas Christensen has sustained a severe knee injury, which could potentially impact Manchester City following a recent transfer link.

The Catalan giants take on Villarreal in Sunday’s La Liga clash at La Ceramica, bidding to restore their four-point lead over Real Madrid at the summit of the Spanish top-flight table.

Barcelona were already known to be without Christensen for the showdown with the Yellow Submarine, as it was revealed on Saturday that the former Chelsea defender had picked up a new injury during a training session.

Little was known about the centre-back’s injury at the time, but on Sunday afternoon, Barcelona confirmed that Christensen had sustained a partial tear of his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) following an awkward twist.

The Denmark international will not be undergoing an operation on the issue – Barcelona have instead decided to adopt a conservative approach – but he is expected to spend months on the sidelines and may miss the rest of the season.

Barcelona’s Andreas Christensen suffers crushing ACL injury

“The first team player Andreas Christensen has a partial tear of the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee as the result of an unfortunate twist of the knee in Saturday’s training session,” Barcelona posted on their X account.

“After tests carried out on the player, a conservative course of treatment has been chosen. The player’s recovery time will depend on his progress.”

Christensen has struggled to force his way into Hansi Flick’s good books this term, making just three starts in La Liga and none in the Champions League, but he has been a regular for the Blaugrana nonetheless.

The 29-year-old has made 17 appearances across all competitions in the 2025-26 campaign, scoring one goal in the Copa del Rey against Guadalajara, but he may now have played his final game for the club.

Christensen is about to enter the final six months of his contract with Barcelona, and a free transfer at the end of the season now looks increasingly likely following his crushing blow.

Man City transfer fear emerges after Andreas Christensen injury

Christensen’s season-ending problem comes at a time when Barcelona are already missing Ronald Araujo, who has been taking time out to prioritise his mental health ever since last month’s Champions League defeat to Chelsea.

As a result, Eric Garcia and Pau Cubarsi are now Flick’s only recognised senior centre-backs, although Jules Kounde and Gerard Martin are emergency options in front of Joan Garcia.

La Blaugrana are expected to be in the market for at least one new centre-back in 2026 – potentially as early as January – and it has been reported that they have earmarked Manchester City’s Josko Gvardiol as one of two top options.

The injury to Christensen could accelerate Barcelona’s pursuit of defensive reinforcements, so Man City may have to brace themselves for an approach from Pep Guardiola’s former club when the transfer window reopens next month.

However, City will likely price Barcelona out of a move for Gvardiol over the winter, but as his contract expires in 2028, they could have a big decision to make in the summer if he does not renew.