Chelsea closer to £50m Chilwell deal as Leicester drop price

Chelsea are edging closer to landing Leicester City defender Ben Chilwell.

The London Evening Standard says Chelsea are close to striking a £50million deal with Leicester City for the signing of England international Chilwell.

Manager Frank Lampard has long considered the 23-year-old his first-choice target at left-back, a position identified as a problem since the early days of his reign.

The Blues have been tracking Chilwell since before January, but held reservations over the fee, with Leicester having initially hoped to bank around £80m – similar to that Manchester United paid for Harry Maguire last year.

However, given Chilwell’s desire to join Lampard’s project at Chelsea and the financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic on clubs, the Foxes dropped their asking price.