According to Football Insider, Manchester City have reportedly identified Ben Chilwell as a potential replacement for Joao Cancelo, who is currently on loan at reigning German champions Bayern Munich.
The defending English champions find themselves short of options at left-back after Cancelo’s departure, and are consequently looking across Europe for a potential replacement should the Bundesliga club make the 28-year-old’s move permanent, with a £61 million buy option inserted in the transfer.
Not only Cancelo, Oleksandr Zinchenko left the club in the summer for rivals, Arsenal.
This has proved to be a costly mistake as the Ukrainian international is playing a key role in the Gunners’ rise to the top of the Premier League table.
In addition to this, last season’s star performer, Cancelo has also been shown the exit door in January.
With the Citizens looking to strengthen the left side of their defence, Football Insider claims that they could consider a move for Chilwell.
The Premier League champions were reported to be interested in Chilwell before he joined Chelsea from Leicester City in August 2020.
The Citizens remain firm admirers of the England international’s talents, and could decide to make a bid in the summer, although it remains to be seen whether Chelsea would entertain any offers.
Chilwell, who is under contract with the Blues until June 2025, ticks all the right boxes for Guardiola and his tactics.
The former Leicester City man is comfortable on the ball, can make dynamic forward runs, and is a cool customer when under pressure, so he is perfectly suited to playing in a team that dominates possession and plays out from the back, like Man City.
Chelsea will need to offload some players from their squad following the heavy investment since last summer, and in the event of no European football next season.
And this could lead to a potential sale of Chilwell if the club received an lucrative offer from City.
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