Ben Chilwell becomes “shock target” for Manchester United | OneFootball

Chelsea defender Ben Chilwell has emerged as a “shock target” for Manchester United as the Red Devils seek further reinforcements in defence this summer.

Alex Cook (talkSPORT) reveals the 27-year-old fullback is on the “list of potential targets” at Old Trafford with his future at Stamford Bridge firmly in doubt.

Chilwell endured a dismal campaign for Chelsea last season. He fell down the pecking order under Mauricio Pochettino, with a combination of poor form and repeated knee injuries leading the Argentine manager to prefer Marc Cucurella as the season progressed.

Cucurella, 25, finished the year strongly for the Blues after a poor start, and continued this resurgence by starting for the Spanish national team at left-back, as La Roja emerged as deserving victors at EURO 2024 in Germany.

Spain beat England 2-1 in the final of the tournament – one Chilwell’s poor form led to him being excluded from by the then Three Lions manager, Gareth Southgate.

Pochettino departed Stamford Bridge at the end of the season and was replaced by Leicester City boss Enzo Maresca, who helped the Foxes to a storming Championship success in his first season at the club.

Maresca was previously a coach at Manchester City under Pep Guardiola – a manager whose influence on the Italian is profound, with Cook describing Maresca as a “Guardiola disciple”.

Interestingly, City had previously tried to sign Cucurella when shopping for a new left-back, only to be outbid by Chelsea. There is something to the Spaniard’s game Guardiola liked, however, and this admiration is likely to be mirrored by his former assistant, Maresca.

TalkSPORT’s report contends Chilwell “has the problem of not fitting” into his new manager’s system. Maresca described the 27-year-old’s situation as “delicate” in a recent interview with a need to “find…the right position” for him.

United, by comparison, are eminently keen to add more defenders to a unit which was decimated by injury last season. Left-back, in particular, was a repeated source of angst for Erik ten Hag with both of his senior left-backs – Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia – spending significant periods of the year on the side lines.

As such, a move for a seasoned fullback like Chilwell, with European and international experience, may make sense for United. But only at the right price.

Money will be tight for the remainder of the transfer window at Old Trafford given the acute pressure of the Premier League’s Profits and Sustainability Rules (PSR). United need to sell before they can buy following the costly purchases of Leny Yoro and Joshua Zirkzee.

A move for Chilwell, therefore, may make more sense as a loan deal, later in the window; similar to the one agreed for Cucurella at the end of the transfer window last summer, only for Chelsea to demand too high a loan fee.

If the London club are more reasonable in their demands for an unwanted left-back this summer, Ten Hag may have found a short-term solution to the left-back problem which plagued him last season.

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