Chelsea sign Leicester City's Ben Chilwell for 66 million U.S. dollars

Ben Chilwell shows his No. 3 jersey of Chelsea for portrait at Chelsea Training Ground in Cobham, England, August 26, 2020. /VCG

Chelsea announced on Thursday that they signed 23-year-old defender Ben Chilwell from Leicester City. The transfer costed the Blues 50 million pounds (about 66 million U.S. dollars), according to ESPN.

"I am delighted to be joining Chelsea at this very exciting time for the club. I'm looking forward to being a part of this young, dynamic squad led by Frank Lampard as we challenge for honors next season. I can't wait to get started and hopefully it won't be long before we're playing in front of the Chelsea fans at Stamford Bridge," said Chilwell in the statement.

"We are very pleased to have completed our third addition to our exciting squad for the coming season. Ben brings plenty of top-level experience playing in the Premier League, Champions League and at international level, despite his young age. We are confident Ben will adapt very quickly to being a Chelsea player and with the fixture program for 2020/21 especially busy, he is a fantastic addition to the squad needed to challenge for honors," said Marina Granovskaia, director of Chelsea.

Ben Chilwell of Leicester City dribbles the ball in the Premier League game against Brighton & Hove Albion at King Power Stadium in Leicester, England, June 23, 2020. /VCG

Having started his professional career in Leicester City, Chilwell drew attention from Chelsea with his great performance last season. His officials stats include three goals and four assists in 33 games, but also 158 10+ meter progressive carries (carrying the ball more than 10 meters upfield) last season – only Kyle Walker of Manchester City and Andrew Robertson of Liverpool were better than him in this area.

Chelsea have been frustrated at their full backs' lack of aggressiveness for a long time and they are convinced that Chilwell can be their solution to the problem.

Having completed Chilwell's deal, Chelsea already spent over 100 million pounds (about 132 million U.S. dollars) in this transfer window. Moreover, they reportedly reached an agreement with Bayer 04 Leverkusen over the transfer of Kai Havertz for 90 million pounds (about 119 million U.S. dollars), making it obvious that Frank Lampard is eyeing for something bigger than the fourth place next season.