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Chelsea veteran Cesar Azpilicueta has reportedly signed a two-year contract extension with the club.
According to David Ornstein of The Athletic, the deal will keep Azpilicueta at Stamford Bridge until the summer of 2024. New Blues owner Todd Boehly is said to have been keen to keep hold of the Spaniard and seems to have managed to successfully do so.
It is worth noting that Azpilicueta has been linked with a move to Barcelona all summer. Ornstein's report added that the Blaugrana even held talks with Chelsea about signing the veteran defender but these seem to have been unsuccessful. The journalist tweeted:
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"Cesar Azpilicueta has today signed new 2yr deal to keep him at Chelsea until 2024. Barcelona held talks with #CFC about move but Todd Boehly has wanted to keep him since taking over & 32yo has now committed to Stamford Bridge."
Reports of the 32-year-old extending his deal with the club will be welcomed by Thomas Tuchel and the club's fans. The Blues have already lost Andreas Christensen and Antonio Rudiger to free transfers this summer. Letting go of club captain Azpilicueta could've proven to be a third major blow to their backline.
The Spaniard has spent most of his professional career at Stamford Bridge, having arrived from Olympique Marseille back in the summer of 2012. Since then, the versatile defender has made a mammoth 474 appearances for the Blues, netting 17 goals and laying out 55 assists.
Azpilicueta has also lifted every possible major trophy during his time at Chelsea. After winning the UEFA Europa League in his debut season, he added the Premier League and EFL Cup in 2015, and the FA Cup in 2016, to his collection.
The defender went on to lift the UEFA Champions League at the end of the 2020-21 campaign, before winning the UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup last season.
Chelsea will open their 2022-23 Premier League campaign against Everton
Chelsea have been active in the ongoing transfer window over the last few weeks after a quiet start to the summer.
They have signed Kalidou Koulibaly, Raheem Sterling, Gabriel Slonina and Carney Chukwuemaeka, and have been linked with several others as well. A few more new arrivals could be in order before the window shuts at the end of August.
However, extending Azpilicueta's contract could be their last piece of action before the start of the 2022-23 Premier League season. Tuchel's troops will kick off their league campaign with a visit to Goodison Park on Saturday, August 6.
