Frank Lampard’s team is chasing Leicester City’s left back, but could they watch Borussia Monchengladbach’s man if the foxes don’t move?
When Ismaila Sarr of Watford passed Leicester City with left back Ben Chilwell in the first half of Vicarage Road last week, Chelsea fans spent the next few minutes on social media giving the international stick to England.
Many in the fan base think that, at £ 80 million, English is considerably expensive and does not represent good value for money, despite having been proven only in 23 years and in the Premier League.
When the Senegal star left the Leicester defender for dead in the second half, when he ran into a cross ball for the Hornet’s best chance of kicking off at lunchtime, the tendency of Blues supporters against the young left-back has grown.
Sarr is burning this Chilwell guy too often for me.
– Seye Omidiora (@theReal_SeyE) June 20, 2020
Not even a spectacular strike to keep Brendan Rodgers ‘team running late could affect fans’ thoughts about their possible left back. Frank Lampard is believed to value Chilwell a great deal and considered the full-back as his first choice to replace Marcos Alonso and Emerson Palmieri, who has not appeared since English football has returned.
There appears to have been a growing campaign to discredit the 23-year-old England international, with fan bookings focusing on the astronomical price demanded by the Foxes. There is a feeling within the base that does not publish enough decisive contributions to be considered an update on the club’s current full-backs.
The much-maligned Alonso, despite criticism, scored four times and witnessed two goals in 13 Premier League appearances. Chilwell’s three goals and three assists come from 25 appearances and, at first glance, do not paint the picture of a marked improvement in the impending Spanish.
Until his miraculous goal at Watford, the Academy of Leicester graduate had contributed less goals than Alonso, despite having made 12 appearances more than the former Fiorentina full-back.
With four years left in his contract, it is inconceivable to think that the 2016 league champions are content with anything significantly lower than their asking price, just as they have not compromised last year’s negotiations with Harry Maguire, who joined part of Manchester United for £ 80 million.
Given the impact of the coronavirus, there is an idea that an agreement could be reached between Chelsea and Leicester for £ 60 million, but Blues supporters remain unimpressed.
Jim Beglin just said that Chilwell can’t wait to get on the bus at home ???? #MCILEI
– Seye Omidiora (@theReal_SeyE) December 21, 2019
Because of their doubts about the attacking opponent and the tendency to be caught defensively on the ground (I immediately think of the games against Watford on Saturday and off in Manchester City in December), there seems to be some skepticism that even at that price it would represent good value for money.
Alternatives such as Porto Alex Telles and Ajax Nicolas Tagliafico have been put forward by the press, but what about Ramy Bensebaini?
Borussia Monchengladbach’s left back has made great strides this season under Marco Rose, becoming one of the best African players in the top five leagues of Europe. He has scored five times this season as he organizes three hits in his Bundesliga debut campaign.
The impressive return of the Algerian this year is understood when the context of his campaign is taken into account. Having slowly started his life in Germany, when Rose made it easier after a summer pass from the Stade Rennais, Bensabaini published his respectable numbers in 18 appearances (15 starts).
Obviously, the high point of his campaign was to score Gladbach’s 2-1 success against Bayern Munich champions, the second of the goals being a pressure penalty in the second half’s suspension time.
By removing the penalties from his contribution to the goal, the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations winner still has six commitments, which are at the same level as Chilwell and Alonso.
He also created five great chances, one more than Chelsea’s current left back and the same number as the Englishman, although 0.7 key passages per game are slightly lower than the average published by the 29-year-old and the Leicester man (1.2 and 1.3 respectively).
However, that metric is apparently only where the Prem pair outperforms the African champion. Bensabaini not only makes more interceptions and wins more tackles per game, but he regains possession more often and clears the ball away from danger on several occasions.
2.1 interceptions per game for the North African trumps Alonso (1.1) and Chilwell (1.2), while 1.8 tackles per game improves the left back of Chelsea and Leicester, which respectively mark 1.5 and 1.6.
A particularly impressive aspect of the Gladbach defender’s game is defensive: his past dribbled by game stat reads 0.7 while the Spaniard and Chilwell are bypassed more often, evidenced by their average of 1.1 and 1.0 respectively.
Also, Blues defender (52 percent) and Foxes left-back (51 percent) don’t win as many duels as Bundesliga full-back (59 percent), who also completed 54 percent of his dribbles compared to the Premier League 45 percent and 36 percent respectively.
A critical point could be the length of the 25-year-old’s contract in Gladbach, which still has three years to go. This is considerably longer than alternatives such as Telles (2021) and Tagliafico (2022), but two years younger Algerian would mean, in principle, that it could devote more years to the part of West London.
While Lampard seems convinced of Chilwell, Chelsea could be forced to consider other goals if Leicester is not willing to compromise and Bensebaini could represent an ideal alternative for the giants of Stamford Bridge.
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