£41m Chelsea player emerges as 'realistic' January signing for Manchester City amid financial worries

Chelsea defender Ben Chilwell has been classed as a ‘realistic’ option for Manchester City as Pep Guardiola looks to strengthen his squad in January. City have had a poor run of results, winning just one game in their last 12 in all competitions. They come off the back of a 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa which has left them seventh in the league, 12 points off leaders Liverpool.

Chilwell has made just one appearance for Chelsea so far this season which came in the Carabao Cup against Barrow in late September. He was told in the summer that he wasn’t part of Maresca’s plans at Stamford Bridge, but was unable to seek a move away unlike Raheem Sterling, who joined Arsenal. According to former Man City financial advisor, Stefan Borson, Chilwell could emerge as a transfer target for City in January.

He said on X: “Players like Ben Chilwell on loan are more realistic January signings. Just think this is what we can expect.”

It comes after reports emerged suggesting that City would not make a transfer move for Newcastle midfielder Bruno Guimaraes in January, despite several reports linking the move. It seems as though City are reluctant to spend big in January, making Chilwell a more realistic prospect.

Chilwell linked with Premier League and Serie A clubs

City aren’t the only destination that has been touted for the former Leicester City defender as Manchester United were reportedly keen during the summer. United could still push for a deal to sign the Blues’ defender in January, especially considering that full-back Luke Shaw remains out with a long-term leg injury. He suffered a set-back at the start of December which means his return date is currently unknown.

Furthermore, reports suggest that Serie A giants Juventus could make a loan move for Chilwell as they have lost two defenders to injury over the past two months. However, it is understood that Chelsea would rather sell the 28-year-old.

Maresca makes ‘they want to leave’ admission

Earlier in the week, Chelsea boss Maresca identified Chilwell and midfielder Carney Chukwuemeka as two players that could depart in the January window. Neither has been able to get much game time under him, and he suggested that they could want to leave in order to get more consistent game time. He said in his Friday press conference: “There are players that unfortunately didn’t play a lot with us in all the competitions like Chilwell, like Carney.

“Probably they are the first [to say] that they want to leave because they train every day, because they want to play games. If they don’t play games probably they are thinking of leaving. Each player is a bit different situation, so we’re going to see if some of them are coming and knocking on the door to say, “I want to leave”, or something like that. It depends and we will try to find a solution.”