According to reliable transfer insider Fabrizio Romano, Chelsea announce the signing of Ben Chilwell from Leicester in the ‘next few days’.
This comes less than 48 hours after the Athletic (subscription required) reported that the Blues were close to agreeing a deal worth £45-50m for the full-back.
Left-back has proved to be a problem position for Frank Lampard in his debut season in charge, with Marcos Alonso suspect defensively and Emerson Palmieri now falling out of favour at Stamford Bridge.
Club captain Cesar Azpilicueta was even deployed on the left flank, but this makeshift change also sparked little improvement to the side, with Chilwell eyed as Lampard’s prime target.
The Athletic added in their report that Chilwell is expected to return in three weeks, the ace missed Leicester’s run-in and the collapse of their Champions League hopes with a heel injury.
Here’s the latest on Chelsea’s pursuit of the England international:
Chelsea on next few days will announce Chilwell deal, go on to receive final answer from Thiago Silva and continue negotiations with Bayer Leverkusen for Kai Havertz after new bid made yesterday. ? #CFC #Chelsea #transfers
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) August 22, 2020
23-year-old Chilwell is exactly the kind of youthful yet experienced kind of player that Chelsea seem to be targeting, following the recent additions of stars like Christian Pulisic and Timo Werner.
Chilwell has already made 99 Premier League appearances in his career, the talent has shown his threatening ability going forward this season especially with three goals and three assists in 27 top-flight outings.
Whilst many would argue that Chilwell has similar defensive shortcomings to the likes of Alonso and Emerson, a maximum fee of around £50m for the ace could be considered a relatively cut-price move.
The full-back has been slapped with much higher price tags over the last year and it could represent a fine investment for Chelsea, as Chilwell sits pretty solid as England’s first-choice left-back right now.