Chelsea target €15m Barcelona teen as possible Ben Chilwell Replacement

Chelsea are reportedly keen on brining Barcelona’s Alejandro Balde to the club next summer over a ‘lack of confidence’ in Ben Chilwell.

The Blues signed Marc Cucurella from Brighton for £62m in the summer as competition for Chilwell at on the left, in a move which saw Marcos Alonso move to Barcelona.

The England international was crucial to Chelsea’s win over West Ham last time out in the Premier League, coming off the bench to score and assist in their 2-1 win.

They’re said to be interested in Balde, who is currently vying with Alonso and Jordi Alba for a starting spot at the Nou Camp.

The report claims Balde would represent ‘an important leap in quality’ compared to Chilwell, with the 18-year-old ‘one of the great jewels’ of Barcelona.

It’s thought the Blues are ‘willing to put €15m on the table’ in an attempt to steal Balde away from Barcelona, but a move will depend on new manager Graham Potter’s assessment of his current options at the club.

Despite his lack of game time for Chelsea, Chilwell revealed last week that he is “very excited” to have won a call-up to the England squad after a long time out through injury.

Chilwell said: “Yeah, for sure I’m delighted. It’s probably been over a year now since my last call-up. Obviously, I had the injury which stopped me from having the chance to play for my country in the past.

“After being out for six, seven, eight, or nine months I’m just really, really excited to get back and hopefully, I can get some game time, and it’s very exciting going into the World Cup.”