Chelsea have agreed a new contract with long-serving defender Cesar Azpilicueta.
Having won each of the club trophies available to him during a 10-year stay at Stamford Bridge, Azpilicueta is established as a club legend.
However, it has been an open secret that the 32-year-old has been interested in signing for Barcelona during the current transfer window.
The Catalan giants have already made five first-team additions and the versatile defender was in contention to become one of the next faces through the door at Camp Nou.
However, according to David Ornstein of The Athletic, Chelsea have instead convinced the Spaniard to commit his immediate future to the Blues.
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The report claims that Azpilicueta has agreed to pen a two-year deal, a 12-month extension to the terms which were automatically activated earlier in 2022.
Furthermore, it is added that the leadership of Azpilicueta has impressed many behind the scenes at Chelsea, including chairman Todd Boehly.
The alleged decision comes at a time when head coach Thomas Tuchel has become increasingly eager to finalise his squad ahead of the new Premier League campaign.
Despite signing Aston Villa youngster Carney Chukwuemeka earlier on Thursday, Chelsea have been in the market for a central defender and wing-backs for either flank.
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With Azpilicueta now seemingly set to stay at Chelsea, they are expected to end their interest in the likes of Inter Milan's Denzel Dumfries.
Attention will remain on trying to secure deals for Leicester City defender Wesley Fofana and Brighton & Hove Albion left wing-back Marc Cucurella.
As it stands, a deal for the latter appears most likely, despite Brighton's insistence that a transfer is not close to completion.
Although Azpilicueta is capable of playing on the right-hand side of a back three, it is unlikely to stop Chelsea from trying to tempt Leicester into parting ways with £75m-rated Fofana.
Darren Plant
