Chelsea have confirmed the signing of Ben Chilwell from Leicester for £50m, with the England defender moving to Stamford Bridge on a five‑year contract as Frank Lampard continues to strengthen his squad for the new season.
Chilwell, who was left out of England’s squad for the Nations League matches next week because of injury, has long been targeted by the Chelsea manager and the 23‑year‑old was keen to play in the Champions League having just missed out on qualification with Leicester last season.
His arrival takes Chelsea’s spending in this transfer window to around £130m following the signings of Hakim Ziyech from Ajax and Timo Werner from RB Leipzig, with the Brazil defender Thiago Silva expected to join on a free transfer from Paris Saint‑Germain in the coming days.
Chelsea are also on the verge of an agreement with Bayer Leverkusen over a £90m deal for Kai Havertz that would take their spending this summer past £200m, and they continue to target the free agent Malang Sarr.
The club have also been running the rule over a number of goalkeeping options, with Ajax’s Andre Onana and Burnley’s Nick Pope both linked. West Ham’s England midfielder Declan Rice is another of Chelsea’s long‑term targets as Lampard continues to reshape his squad.
“‘I am delighted to be joining Chelsea at this very exciting time for the club,” Chilwell told the club’s website. “I’m looking forward to being a part of this young, dynamic squad led by Frank Lampard as we challenge for honours next season.
“I can’t wait to get started and hopefully it won’t be long before we’re playing in front of the Chelsea fans at Stamford Bridge.”
The Chelsea director Marina Granovskaia said: “We are very pleased to have completed our third addition to our exciting squad for the coming season. Ben brings plenty of top-level experience playing in the Premier League, Champions League and at international level, despite his young age.
“We are confident Ben will adapt very quickly to being a Chelsea player and, with the fixture programme for 2020-21 especially busy, he is a fantastic addition to the squad needed to challenge for honours.”
Chilwell, who made his Leicester debut aged 18 in October 2015 before going on to make 123 appearances, 99 in the Premier League, would have been expected to add to his 11 England caps next month in the Nations League matches against Denmark and Iceland but injury meant he was not involved in Gareth Southgate’s squad.
However, the consistency of his recent performances for club and country elevated him to Lampard’s first choice as a new left-back recruit.s
from Football | The Guardian https://ift.tt/31s28Ym
via IFTTT
No Comment