Report: Chelsea Defender Andreas Christensen Won't Join AC Milan in January

Chelsea defender Andreas Christensen reportedly will not join rumoured suitors AC Milan during the January transfer window as the west Londoners are keen to keep hold of his signature.

Gazzetta dello Sport (h/t Calciomercato.com) reported Chelsea "are not allowing" Christensen to leave in the winter, despite the fact he's yet to play a Premier League minute under manager Maurizio Sarri.

Christensen, 22, has expressed a willingness to leave Stamford Bridge unless his situation improves, and Milan were one of the parties linked following their recent crisis of injuries at the San Siro.

It was also Christensen's father, Sten, who flirted with the possibility of his son—who has been highly touted at Chelsea for a number of years—leaving the club six years after he joined:

Milan's summer signing from Juventus, Mattia Caldara, and fellow centre-back Mateo Musacchio have been ruled out until early 2019 with knee injuries, while Alessio Romagnoli has struggled with a calf injury of late.

The centre-back spoke to Danish website bt.dk (h/t Sky Sports) in October and said he'll assess his options after a difficult run of not featuring prominently in Sarri's plans:

"It has been a hard season. To be honest, it has been very difficult. I had a good season last year and I played a good World Cup.

"I cannot stand to have so much patience again. Now I'm 22-years-old and I really want to play. In the last three seasons, I've played, so it's clear that I do not see me staying if my current situation is also true in the future.

"It's too early to talk about when to change if I'm going to change. But it is clear that it is not a good situation for me.

"It has been difficult to get into the team, and when we get the good results that we currently do, it will only be even harder."

Sarri has looked to Antonio Rudiger and David Luiz as his central defenders of choice this season, but Christensen has been limited to only five appearances in the UEFA Europa League and two in the Carabao Cup.

That's not to say the Denmark international hasn't performed well when called upon, as Goal's Nizaar Kinsella vouched for the youngster's class after the recent 4-0 hammering of PAOK:

Milan manager Gennaro Gattuso is relying on Cristian Zapata and Ignazio Abate as central defenders, but it doesn't look as though Christensen is an attainable midseason target.

It's unsurprising Chelsea want to keep hold of Christensen so badly. He was one of the first academy players to earn substantial money in the Premier League and showed in a two-year loan at Borussia Monchengladbach that he's of the Premier League standard.

His contract runs until 2022, but those of Luiz and Gary Cahill expire in June, so it's likely the club have long-term plans in mind for their player if he can wait until then.

Milan already have Tiemoue Bakayoko on loan from the Blues, but it seems they'll need to look elsewhere for defensive reinforcements next month.