Ashley Cole urges Chelsea to sign Ben Chilwell from Leicester City

Chelsea legend Ashley Cole has urged the Blues to make an approach to sign Leicester City’s Ben Chilwell this summer. The England international has been identified as one of the club’s prime targets for the next transfer window with manager Frank Lampard keen on rebuilding the first-team squad.

In an interview with TalkSPORT, Cole said that he is a huge fan of the Foxes graduate and believes the left-back would fit into the scheme of things under Lampard, he told: “I’d love to see him (Chilwell) here. I think he’s a quality player, I’ve heard he’s a Chelsea fan so yes I’d like to see him here. It’s a big decision for the club but quality-wise for sure he is good enough. But that depends on if he wants to leave or if Leicester will sell him – that’s something the clubs would need to talk about.”

Over the past few months, Chilwell has been mentioned as a regular transfer candidate for the Blues but the club’s hierarchy won’t have an easy route to landing the defender. The Foxes have previously parted ways with Riyad Mahrez and Harry Maguire for big-money deals and reports claim that they could demand as much as £80m for Chilwell this summer.

Such a figure could prove steep for the Blues, who are also expected to strengthen the attack ahead of next season. A recent report from A Bola has claimed that Porto’s Alex Telles could emerge as the alternative target for the west London giants, given he could be available for around £37m.

The Brazilian has only 16 months remaining on his current deal with Porto and he has recently snubbed an extension with the view to pursuing a big-money move elsewhere. Telles would perfectly suit Lampard with the attacking nature of his game. He has contributed an impressive tally of eight goals and five assists in the Portuguese top-flight this season.