Leicester City have identified Joe Bryan as the replacement for Chelsea-bound Ben Chilwell and, according to the Sun (26 August, page 50), Fulham could listen to offers of £15 million.
While Brendan Rodgers has made it clear on multiple occasions throughout the summer that Leicester’s England international left-back was not for sale, it seems the reality is something very different.
Money talks, after all.
Chilwell could be a Chelsea player by the end of the week with the big-spending Blues on the verge of tying up a £50 million deal for a man who, if he can rediscover the form he showed in 2019, should represent a sizeable upgrade on Marcos Alonso and Emerson (Sky).
Maybe £50 million was simply too good to turn down for a man whose form has dipped alarmingly since the turn of the year.
Especially when a replacement can be signed on the cheap, leaving another £35 million set aside to reinforce the rest of a squad which will be stretched to its limit by a Europa League tilt next season.
Bryan might have scored the goals that secured Fulham’s promotion but, a matter of weeks after that stunning brace in the play-off final triumph over Brentford, the Cottagers could be ready to cash in.
The Sun claims that a £15 million bid could be enough and, in former Wigan Athletic flyer Antonee Robinson, Scott Parker already has Bryan’s successor in his ranks.
An attack-minded and adventurous full-back, Bryan produced eight assists and three goals in 2019/20, including that stunning, Gary McAllister-inspired free-kick at Wembley.
“He’s training every day, very well and I am thinking about him because he’s a good player and very ambitious,” former Fulham boss, and Leicester legend, Claudio Ranieri told Football London.
“I believe in this guy.”
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