Ernesto Valverde has poured cold water on a potential Barcelona move for Chelsea defender Andreas Christensen.

Denmark international Christensen is struggling for game time at Stamford Bridge under Maurizio Sarri, having appeared just once in the Premier League this season.

Spanish outlet Sport linked the 22-year-old with a loan switch to Barcelona in January – with Samuel Umtiti still recovering from a knee problem and Thomas Vermaelen historically injury-prone – but Blaugrana boss Valverde said he is ‘happy to manage’ his current options.

“We want four centre-backs who can play,” he said.

“Umtiti could recover and that would be great news for us and would mean that we would have four centre-backs for the rest of the season, although three are left-footed.

“We will know more about what happens with him in a little while, but we are Barcelona and want to have a team who can respond. As I said, we’ll see what happens but I’m happy to manage with what I have.”