Exclusive – Manchester City are interested in striking a deal for Leicester City left back Ben Chilwell after growing frustrated with Benjamin Mendy.
The Frenchman has failed to hold down a permanent place in Pep Guardiola’s starting lineup this season and has not featured at all in City’s last two league games, with Angeli
With ?City’s left-back position uncertain, 90min has learned club officials are considering a move for Chilwell, who has enjoyed a fantastic start to the season with ?Leicester.
In contrast to Chilwell’s success, Guardiola has dropped ?Mendy from his starting lineup as a result of numerous problems with his lifestyle. The club fear that they may have made a mistake by overlooking his personal life during their initial scouting reports of the Frenchman, and that is why Chilwell has moved into their sights.
However, their main problem in their pursuit of Chilwell is ?Chelsea, who are ready to compete with any offers which Leicester receive for the 22-year-old.
The Blues feel as though there are not too many positions in the squad which need significant investment, but left-back is a real problem. Back in October, 90min learned that Chelsea were ?not convinced by either Emerson or Marcos Alonso, so club officials began preparing a potential move for Chilwell.
Given left-back is one of their primary concerns, Chelsea are prepared to spend big on a long-term solution, and they see Chilwell as the ideal candidate.
Both Chelsea and City rate the 22-year-old incredibly highly, and the Foxes would be prepared to let him go for the right price – similar to ?Manchester United’s acquisition of ?Harry Maguire last summer.
Chilwell has made ten appearances for Leicester this season, racking up one goal and three assists for Brendan Rodgers’ side.
He has helped the Foxes up to second in the ?Premier League, but Leicester would still be prepared to let him go if either Chelsea or City came in with an acceptable bid.
City are also said to be ?interested in Leicester centre backs Jonny Evans and Caglar Soyuncu as they look to bolster a defence that was torn apart in the 3-1 defeat at Anfield.
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