Barcelona and Atletico Madrid have reportedly entered the summer race to sign Ben Chilwell, who is valued at £50 million by Leicester City.
According to The Sun, Ben Chilwell has new admirers, admirers not from the Premier League but La Liga. Barcelona and Atletico Madrid have reportedly joined the race for the English international, who is one of the three players that Leicester City fear losing to the comparatively bigger clubs in world football in the summer transfer window.
Ben Chilwell was destined for great things at Leicester, having been labelled the club’s Academy Player of the Year at the end of the 2014-15 season. While he did break into the first-team in the 2015-16 season under Claudio Ranieri, it took him two years to establish himself as a starter.
Chilwell’s been enjoying his football ever since and has become a key cog in Leicester’s gameplay, first under Claude Puel and now under Brendan Rodgers. The manager has been attentive of the interest Chilwell’s ability has been able to garner and has professed that the club is ready to fight to retain him, Harry Maguire and James Maddison – three stars who have been touted to be on the agenda of the Premier League bigwigs.
Chilwell has already proven himself in the Premier League and has the likes of Manchester United, Chelsea, Manchester City all following him. But, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid have entered the race for Chilwell.
For Atletico Madrid, it is a case of searching for a direct replacement for Filipe Luis for the left side of the back four. Los Rojiblancos are willing to invest a chunk of the £68 million they are set to receive from the sale of Lucas Hernandez to Bayern Munich in order to land the 22-year-old English international.
Barcelona have Jordi Alba as the only natural option at left-back and are looking at Chilwell to provide competition for places to Alba and take over in due time. Chilwell’s attacking mentality would fit in well with the footballing philosophy in place at Nou Camp.
Chilwell is valued at £50 million by Leicester, who have a tougher fight at hand, with Manchester City, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid all considering a serious summer assault to land the 22-year-old. He could also be tempted by the prospect of competing for trophies on a regular basis along with the allure of playing Champions League football again and for one of the biggest clubs in European football.
An interesting summer lies ahead for Leicester City. It will be important to either retain stars like Chilwell or find able replacements. The likes of Manchester City, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid though, are likely to test Leicester’s resolve.
