According to the Daily Mirror, Manchester City are set to launch a £50million bid in January for Leicester and England full-back Ben Chilwell. The youngster has impressed in the last season and a half. His form this season has earned the 21-year-old five international caps for England. His displays for England have also been very steady indeed.
Been highly-rated for a good while
Chilwell has been highly-rated for a while now, but it is only in the last few seasons he has become a regular in the Leicester starting line-up. Liverpool were linked with a move for Chilwell when he was just a teenager, but nothing came of the story and he has thrived in the Midlands.
Leicester secured the young full-back on a new five-year deal back in October. However, we all know that contract means very little when it comes to cold hard cash. Chilwell is no doubt one of the best up and coming full-backs in the country and looks to have a bright future in the game.
City needs an alternative to Mendy
Manchester City has a massive problem at left-back. The problem is in French international full-back Benjamin Mendy they have a beast of a player. His power, pace and athleticism rank among the best in the league, when he is available that is.
Unfortunately, Mendy has a tendency to pick up injuries. The 24-year-old joined City in the summer of 2017 for £52million from Monaco after impressing in the clubs stellar campaign in the previous season.
However, the 24-year-old missed most of last season with a cruciate ligament injury, while he also missed a chunk of this season through injury, and is expected to be sidelined until February with a minor knee problem.
In short, Mendy is a fine player, but he is highly unreliable when it comes to avoiding injuries. His social media activity has also been the subject of questioning by boss Pep Guardiola, who has also warned the Frenchman due to unprofessional behaviour.
A fit and in-form Benjamin Mendy is the ideal player to play left-back or left wing-back in City’s style of play. However, it seems Guardiola is becoming increasingly frustrated with the French star and is looking at other options for the position.
Midfielder Fabian Delph did an excellent job in the position last season, while the likes of Oleksandr Zinchenko, Danilo and Aymeric Laporte have played in the position in Mendy’s injury absences.
However, none of the quartet are ever likely to be City’s long-term left-back. Reportedly, Guardiola believes that Chilwell is the answer. He is certainly a player with talent and potential to get better. He would also no doubt develop under the Catalan boss.
Leicester will not want to sell
Leicester boss Claude Puel recently talked about being confident that the Foxes can keep their best players and the Midlands club can match their ambitions. They will certainly not want to sell one of their best up and coming young players.
Leicester have developed the youngster and shown faith in him by giving him a platform to perform in the first team.
However, a move to Manchester City would mean better prospects of winning trophies, with City odds of 4/11 to win the title. It would also likely mean another pay rise, which let’s face it most people would not turn down.
It will be interesting to see if anything comes of this story. City raided the Foxes for winger Riyad Mahrez in the summer, which has turned out pretty well. Only time will tell if the Citizens will be attempting to prise young Chilwell away from the Foxes in the near future and if they will be successful.
Will Manchester City sign Ben Chilwell in the January transfer window?
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