Manchester United have entered the race to sign Leicester City’s defensive sensation Ben Chilwell, who is primarily courted by Chelsea.
According to Mirror, Ben Chilwell’s transfer pursuit has just gotten more exciting as Manchester United have entered the race for the Leicester City star. The left-back is widely tipped to leave King Power Stadium as the Foxes look to fund moves for their transfer targets and has been heavily linked with a move to Chelsea this summer,
The Blues, however, were held back by Leicester’s whopping £80 million valuation for Chilwell. They are reportedly not ready to pay that amount and had tabled a much lower offer in initial talks with Leicester. But, it seems, Manchester United also shown eagerness to sign Chilwell, who is considered as one of Europe’s most in-demand left-backs.
Indeed, the Englishman has had immense success since his breakout season in 2017/18, having already made 123 competitive appearances for the Foxes. He has been a long-term target for Chelsea, especially with Frank Lampard identifying him as an answer to his left-back problems.
However, his stupendous £80 million price tag, especially at a time when the European footballing clubs have suffered a massive financial crisis due to the coronavirus, has forced the Blues to look elsewhere. They have most notably been linked with Real Madrid’s rising star, Sergio Reguilon.
Manchester United may also have to follow a similar route. Although financing a big-money has, historically, not been a problem for the Red Devils, the recent transfer saga of Jadon Sancho was enough to indicate the fact that they, too, are unwilling to spend recklessly in the transfer market this summer.
From a sporting perspective, however, Chilwell’s addition to Manchester United would make sense as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men have shown a little bit of weakness at left-back.
Luke Shaw is their only guard in that said position, with Brandon Williams lacking experience at the highest level of football. Chilwell, in that regard, could have been an upgrade over Shaw while his status in the English national team would have tuned in well with Solskjaer’s philosophy of revolving the United team around British talents.
Chelsea, on the other hand, are keen on adding quality to their ranks in whichever way possible. Especially at left-back, the duo of Emerson and Marcos Alonso have simply failed to impress the onlookers, with both being linked with a move away from Stamford Bridge this summer.
The Blues have been quite active in the market. But even for a team who has signed the likes of Timo Werner and Hakim Ziyech so far, splashing £80 million seems rather absurd.
