Arsenal and Liverpool in Transfer Race for Supertalented Defender, £8,000-per-week Deal on the Table

Leicester City are reportedly poised to open new contract negotiations with young left-back Ben Chilwell to pointedly  increase his current £800-a-week contract and stave off the interest of both Arsenal and Liverpool.

The 19-year-old, who impressed at his second appearance for the Foxes during the 2-2 draw with Tottenham Hotspur in the third round of FA Cup on Sunday, is expected to remain part of Leicester’s first team squad for the rest of the season. Currently, Leicester has started discussion over a new £8,000-per-week deal that will keep Chilwell at the club because he is in the final 18 months of his current deal.

Chilwell, an England under 20 international, highlighted his great potential this season with a prosperous loan spell at Championship Huddersfield Town. Scouts from Premier League clubs such as Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham, Manchester City and Liverpool attended his matches. Up to now, Arsenal has a £3.5 million bid rejected last summer.

The England under-20-international made his senior first appearance for the club against Hull City in the Capital One Cup in October and Leicester manager Claudio Ranieri has maintained the defender is not for sale and remains part of their future plans.

Speaking about Ben Chilwell and Demarai Gray, Claudio Ranieri declared that the duo are the future of that Leicester City and they will be looking forward to help them develop.

“We are building and looking for talented young players. For this reason Ben Chilwell and Demarai Gray are with us. Ben is our future and he stays with us,” the manager explained.

“He had a very great match against Spurs; he was sure and outstanding. I am very surprised with how well he played, but that is what I wanted,” he said of Chilwell.
“I am building a very good team with 22, 23 or 24 players and now I can rotate because there are so many matches. I said too many times this is a good club with good energy, a good strategy and our fans are very close to us.

“We have everything right now to build a very good team. The club is a very good club and now we are building step by step.”