Chelsea are reportedly lining up a £50 million summer move for Leicester City star Ben Chilwell to beef up their depth on the left side of the defence.
The Sun have claimed that Chelsea have returned to their primary target and are set to focus their efforts on Leicester City star Ben Chilwell in the summer transfer window. The Blues are plotting a bid of £50 million to land the English international when the transfer window reopens.
The report states that Frank Lampard is keen to add to his current options after not being satisfied with Marcos Alonso and Emerson Palmieri. The Chelsea legend wants someone to be the new first-choice left-back for the club from the upcoming season and is intent on targeting Chilwell.
A lot of names have propped up in recent times as Chelsea’s hunt for a left-back continues. Robin Gosens and Marc Cucurella are both ideal targets, but do not have the requisite Premier League experience that Chilwell has gained at Leicester. The 23-year-old has been the first-choice at King Power Stadium for a fair while, racking up 118 senior appearances for the club since being promoted to the senior team.
Chilwell and Ricardo Pereira are known as one of the most consistently performing full-back duos in club football right now and have been major contributors to Leicester’s success story under Brendan Rodgers so far. Chelsea are interested in Chilwell and will face widespread competition for the English international, as was underlined by Rodgers earlier.
Frank Lampard is set to axe Victor Moses and Emerson Palmieri in order to make space and create funds for Chilwell. The report states that Chelsea consider a £50 million bid will be sufficient to enter into the next phase of the transfer. But, the Foxes are likely to hold out for £60 million as they believe the widespread interest would drive up the price.
Leicester are known to play hardball with negotiations, with Manchester United having to break the transfer record for a defender in order to prise away Harry Maguire. Chilwell has many more clubs interested in him and at the age of 23, is enterprising as one of the few quality left-backs that could satiate the long-term need for one at any of the bigwigs chasing him.
It will be interesting to see if Leicester lower their asking price after this coronavirus pandemic due to the potential financial hit from the suspension of football. Chelsea, though, have Chilwell in sights and a pursuit ready to be launched when the window reopens.
