Chelsea are looking to reinforce their defence and will attempt to engineer a £70 million move for Leicester star Ben Chilwell once their transfer ban ends.
According to The Sun, Chelsea will look to add to their options on the left side of their defence once their transfer ban ends or is lifted. The Blues will reportedly look to bring in English defender Ben Chilwell from Leicester City in a £70 million move, likely in the summer of 2020.
Chelsea have Emerson Palmieri and Marcos Alonso as options for the left side of their back four. While Alonso was the first-choice under Antonio Conte, Emerson emerged as the preferred option in the second half of Maurizio Sarri’s campaign and started for Frank Lampard in Chelsea’s opening 2019-20 Premier League match against Manchester United.
But, Chelsea were handed a 4-0 drubbing by Manchester United. While Emerson was brilliant going forward, coming close to scoring a couple of times, the Italian was found out a bit on the defensive end, especially in the second half once Daniel James came on.
Ben Chilwell has Premier League experience under his belt and is widely seen as one of the best left-backs in the Premier League right now, forging a formidable full-back pairing with Portuguese international Ricardo Pereira at Leicester City. At 22, Chilwell has close to 100 senior appearances for the Foxes and has been the undisputed first-choice for the club for quite some time.
The 22-year-old, along with Harry Maguire, was courted by Manchester City during the summer transfer window. But, the Citizens were priced out of a move, with Leicester demanding over the odds for the Englishman. City instead, decided to bring back Angelino from PSV Eindhoven and chose not to reinforce the central defence.
The problem with pursuing Chilwell is the fact that he has five years left on his Leicester contract, which means the Foxes are likely to place an exorbitant price tag. Chelsea, on the other hand, have their hands tied with the transfer ban. Frank Lampard will hope the ban is lifted before the January window, which would enable them to strengthen the team in the winter.
Chilwell could be lured with the prospect of Champions League football and of being a regular for a club as successful in recent history as Chelsea. Leicester though, will not let Chilwell go easily, having stood hard on Harry Maguire’s valuation until Manchester United caved in and matched the price tag.
Whether the prospective £70 million offer will turn out to be enough for Leicester to part ways with Chilwell remains to be seen. But, Chilwell is likely to be high on Chelsea’s agenda when their transfer ban ends or is removed.
