According to ESPN, Chelsea and Manchester City are keen on a move for Lucas Digne after turning away from Leicester City’s Ben Chilwell. Chelsea want a long-term replacement for Marcus Alonso who turns 30 in December while City have concerns over Benjamin Mendy’s injury problems and Oleksandr Zinchenko’s consistency.
ESPN say Chilwell has an asking price of £75m, so the Premier League duo will now ‘eye’ Digne instead. Everton’s £25.2m-rated defender joined for £18.18m from Barcelona in 2018 and has gone on to make 70 appearances in all competitions, scoring five goals with 12 assists. Digne has made 33 appearances across the board this season, contributing eight goals and impressing enough to get the attention of some big clubs.
As per WhoScored, the 26-year-old racked up 2515 minutes of Premier League football, created 64 chances, completed 74.2% of his 1105 passes, won 81 aerial duels (68%), whipped in 229 crosses with 27% finding a teammate, had 18 successful dribbles (62%), had 24 shots, blocked 40 passes/crosses/shots, made 72 clearances and averaged a tackle (64) or interception (33) every 26 minutes.
With Leighton Baines being Digne’s only real backup in defence, it’s hard to see Everton letting him go. That could change if Chelsea and Man City make an offer that’s too good to refuse, however.