Ben Chilwell Expected to Tell Leicester He Wants Chelsea Transfer

Leicester City full-back Ben Chilwell has been tipped to inform the Foxes this week that he wants to leave the club for Chelsea, who have put a new left-back high on their list of transfer priorities after already capturing Hakim Ziyech and Timo Werner.

Chilwell has been a Leicester regular since 2017 after progressing from the club’s youth ranks and has been England’s first choice left-back since the autumn of 2018.

90min revealed that Manchester City started showing interested in Chilwell towards the end of last year, while Leicester have been preparing themselves for the player’s possible departure since February when they started to identify potential replacements – including Kieran Tierney.

But Chelsea also decided they needed a new left-back in October upon concluding that Marcos Alonso and Emerson Palmieri are not suitable long-term options and have long had an eye on Chilwell, who is considered an ideal target by scouts.

Despite continued interest from Manchester City, Chilwell is now expected to make clear his desire to join Chelsea by informing Leicester that he wants to go.

According to the Daily Mirror, Chilwell sees his long-term future at Stamford Bridge and it is not simply a knee-jerk reaction to Leicester being pipped to Champions League football. The player is said to be looking ahead as he maps out the next five of six years of his career.

Chilwell currently has a long-term contract at Leicester that runs until 2024, which will give the Foxes a strong position from which to demand a substantial transfer fee. The former Premier League champions are well rehearsed in this particular dance, and successfully stood their ground when Manchester United eventually coughed up £80m to sign Harry Maguire last summer.

Despite raising a lot of money through player sales since last summer, Chelsea have already spent handsomely so far this summer, with a £90m in outlays set to ramp up significantly if a deal for Kai Havertz is also agreed. As such, the club has previously been tipped to cash in on other assets in order to raise the further funds needed for the ongoing squad overhaul.

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Source : 90min