Having spent the best part of two seasons trying to court Ben Chilwell from Leicester City, Manchester City and Chelsea look set to engage in a separate transfer love-triangle this summer, with ESPN reporting that both clubs will look to prise Lucas Digne from Everton.
Manchester City and Chelsea Lock In On Lucas Digne
Cheaper Alternative
Both Pep Guardiola and Frank Lampard have made no secret of their desire to strengthen the left-back options at their respective clubs. However, Chelsea reportedly have been put off by the £75 million starting price that Leicester are demanding for England international Chilwell.
It is thought that both Clubs now see former the Barcelona set-piece specialist as a viable alternative in at full-back.
The French international’s signing represented a coup for Everton when he arrived at Goodison Park from Barcelona in 2018. It now looks likely that an opportunity to return to playing for one of Europe’s top sides is imminent.
Making a move for the Frenchman would demand less in way of fee in comparison to the younger Chilwell and that Everton may be open to talks having themselves signed a highly rated full-back prospect, Niels Nkounkou, from Marseille earlier this week.
Proven Track Record
Digne rose through the ranks at Ligue 1 side Lille before making the switch to PSG in 2013. He spent two trophy-laden seasons in Paris including winning a domestic treble in 2014-15.
Though the youngster could not usurp Brazilian veteran Maxwell from the marauding wing-back position and eventually moved to Barcelona in 2016 after a season-long spell in Serie A with Roma.
Again, Digne would struggle to find first-team minutes, and only managed eight starts for the Catalans throughout their 2017/18 La Liga winning campaign before being coaxed to Merseyside by Marco Silva in the close season.
As well as making 30 senior appearances for his country, Digne’s star rocketed back in 2013 as he played a key role in France’s U20 side clinching the FIFA U20 World Cup.
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