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Leicester City and England international defender Ben Chilwell appears to be the next big Chelsea target and the second of our two marquee signings this summer, if all goes well.
He would certainly fill a need, with neither of our two actual left backs particularly impressing or able to hold down the starting job this season — converted right back César Azpilicueta often preferred. One would expect at least one of Marcos Alonso or Emerson Palmieri to be sold in the next transfer window.
Chilwell has been linked with Chelsea for some time now, so that’s certainly not new. Neither is Leicester’s intention to not sell the 23-year-old.
What is new however is the price tag, which sounds massive at £60m (as reported by the Guardian), but is actually about £20m less than what had been quoted in the rumor mill before. It’s still the numerical equivalent of a “not for sale” sign, but the font is slightly smaller and it’s not blinking anymore.
Leicester sold Harry Maguire last season for £85m, and had been expected to charge the same amount for Chilwell. Is £25m a big enough pandemic discount (30%) for Chelsea to pursue? It just might be.