Chelsea eye Bayern Munich defender as Ben Chilwell alternative

Sky Sports reports that Chelsea’s negotiations with Ben Chilwell are getting closer, but the Blues are also considering other alternatives.

Chelsea and Manchester City were monitoring if David Alaba signs a new contract at Bayern Munich. Alaba rejected a €15m deal at Allianz Arena and Premier League clubs are lining up for his signature. [source: Sky Sports]

Alaba’s agent Pini Zahavi has a very good relationship with Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich and Zahavi is known to play a big role in a lot of Chelsea deals. [source: The Guardian]

The Austrian averages more than 2 tackles+interceptions per game. He completes 84 passes per 90 with a staggering 90.7% success rate. Alaba is extremely careful and shrewd with his challenges picking up only one booking this season. [Source: WhoScored]

The 28-year-old can prove to be a marquee signing for the Blues because of his versatility and the balance he creates between his offensive and defensive output. Chelsea’s current first-choice left-back Marcos Alonso is a defensive liability. Alaba, on the other hand, is better defensively and makes overlapping runs whenever required.

He also remains a set-piece threat scoring nine free-kicks in the league- the highest for a current Bayern Munich player. [Source: Bundesliga]

Leceister’s asking price of £80m is a major hurdle in Chelsea singing Chilwell. [Sources: 90Min]

Alaba could be quite a bargain for Frank Lampard having only one year left on his contract. There are no confirmed news about his price tag but it will be less than £80m given his contract expires next summer. Chelsea could use the remaining funds to reinforce in other areas of the pitch.