Leicester Should Demand More Than £50m for Chelsea Target Ben Chilwell

Another summer, another protracted Leicester City transfer saga to mull over.

After the sales of Danny Drinkwater, Riyad Mahrez and Harry Maguire in recent years, the 2020 summer instalment of the Foxes annual blockbuster stars the dashing, slick haired Ben Chilwell.

Manchester City and Manchester United have both been mentioned as having a passing interest in the left-back over the summer, but Chelsea have always been the side leading proceedings.

Here at 90min, we've already had quite a bit to say on the situation. Back in February we warned that Leicester City should not be afraid of losing Chilwell. The sales of the aforementioned Drinkwater and Maguire in the past have shown the Foxes' uncanny ability to strike a good deal and bounce back from the loss of a first team star.

More recently, we double downed, arguing that Leicester should perhaps even be actively pursuing the sale - but only for the right price.

You may be thinking, why are we treading down this well beaten path again? Well ladies and gentleman, we've had some developments. According to some pretty reputable sources, the Blues are closing in on a £50m deal.

Is this the right price that we referred to last month? It was only a few weeks ago that the Foxes were reported to be holding out for a £80m - so what's changed?

Perhaps Chelsea have taken a look at Chilwell's questionable defensive repertoire and re-assessed his worth. When facing up against opposition players last season, the 23-year-old was dribbled past 67.8% of the time. This puts him well below far less expensive buys such as Matt Lowton, Lucas Digne and even the perpetually injured Cedric Soares.

The attacking aspects of his game for which he was won plenty of praise are not as impressive as first seem either. While there can be no doubting that Chilwell is excellent at driving his team up the pitch - he finished just outside the top 20 in the league for progressive dribbling distance - his end product is lacking.

The 104 crosses he has supplied last season returned just three assists, two of which came during his side's demolition of Southampton close to a full year ago.

All of these shortcomings may suggest that is it is Leicester who are the one's doing the fleecing but like always in football transfers, the truth is much more complicated. A player's valuation is rarely determined solely by his ability and this is very much the case with Chilwell.

For instance, there's his contract, which still has four years left to run. The length of the deal should put Leicester in a strong negotiating position with the player a long way off from having the opportunity of leaving on a dreaded free transfer.

Chilwell penned new terms back in 2018 and if he is to leave it seems fair that Leicester only let him go at a premium.

Then there's the fact that Chilwell is English - which continues to hyper-inflate any player's price tag. When Maguire went for £80m last summer, no United fan was deluded enough to believe that his world record transfer fee meant they had just signed the best centre-back on the planet. It is just one of the pitfalls of making a ploy for any remotely hyped up Brit.

Leicester's bargaining position is also strengthened by how desperate Chelsea must be to bolster their defensive ranks. The Blues' back four was absolutely terrible last season, with Frank Lampard's side inability to hold their shape leading to the club's worst ever defensive record in modern history.

There is perhaps only one thing that is currently going against the Foxes during negotiations. Unfortunately it's a biggie - Leicester's failure to get into the Champions League. The fact that Chelsea can offer Chilwell the promise on European football that's not played on Thursday nights could see the defender agitate for a move if deprived.

Even if he is eager to get the deal, Leicester need to hold firm. In the current market, £50m is nowhere near an acceptable price for Chilwell, despite his shortcomings.

Leicester need to put their money where their mouth is and make good on their promises to break into the top six permanently by holding out for their full £80m asking price.