Leicester City left-back Ben Chilwell in action. (Getty Images)
According to Daily Mail, Manchester City have set their sights on Leicester City and England left-back Ben Chilwell as the Citizens look to bolster their defensive options in January.
Reports claim that City’s officials are impressed with Chilwell’s consistent displays at the back and are willing to shell out as much as £50 million to secure his services.
Chilwell, who recently signed a long-term contract in October, has emerged as Gareth Southgate’s first-choice left-back for the Three Lions in the UEFA Nations League after making his senior debut back in September.
Chilwell joined the Leicester City academy at the age of 12 and spent time on loan at Huddersfield Town in the Championship before making his Premier League debut in the 2016-17 season. He was largely used by former manager Claudio Ranieri as an understudy to first-choice left-back Christian Fuchs. However, Chilwell took over as the first-choice following the emergence of Claude Puel last season and the youngster has surpassed all expectations since then.
The 21-year-old has every minute of Leicester City’s campaign in the Premier League so far with two man of the match distinctions, helping the Foxes to 5 clean sheets so far.
Standing at 5ft. 9 inches with a relatively lean and thin frame, Chilwell is not the most physically imposing defender but he uses his low centre-of-gravity to good effect and contributes equally to both attack and defence. His decision-making has perhaps been one of the most impressive things about him this season. While he has shown the inclination to support the attack with powerful overlapping runs, he rarely commits himself beyond a certain degree, knowing exactly when to track back and close down his offensive counterparts. In other words, he has shown an impeccable judgement to balance the attacking and defensive sides of his game, a trait rarely found amongst young full-backs in the same mould.
Furthermore, he has a sound positional sense and his tactical awareness is also of the highest quality. In fact, he is so quick and agile that he can afford to give the attackers a yard or two and even then he has the time to put them off. A good reader of the game in the air as well as off the ground, Chilwell has all the qualities to develop into one of the best left-backs in the world.
To put things into perspective, Manchester City should break the bank to sign him as a replacement for Benjamin Mendy. Chilwell is not as aggressive and expansive as Mendy but he certainly ticks the box with his all-around qualities.
Benjamin Mendy has been one of the standout figures for the Citizens this season, keeping things tight at the back and contributing to the attack with plenty of assists. However, the Frenchman has spent more time on the sidelines than on the pitch since his mega-money arrival from Monaco at the start of the last season.
The knee meniscus injury to Mendy has forced Guardiola to field the likes of Oleksandr Zinchenko and Fabian Delph as makeshift left-backs while right-back Danilo and centre-back Aymeric Laporte has also been used in that position.
Suffice to say, City need another quality left-back to provide cover and competition for Mendy. With the race for the Premier League title heating up gradually, Manchester City can do their chances of retaining the crown a world of good if they can snap up the youngster in January.