Leicester City manager Brendan Rodgers admits the club do not have full control over the direction of Ben Chilwell’s future, but he is insistent that the left-back is not thinking about life away from the King Power Stadium. There have been reports that the 23-year-old already has his heart set on Stamford Bridge, but Rodgers dismissed that suggestion, saying he is fully committed to Leicester, where he has four years remaining on his contract. However, Rodgers did acknowledge that try as the club might to prove they can give a player everything they need to progress their career, sometimes it won’t be enough.
Brendan Rodgers said “I’ve been in it long enough to understand the game and where it’s at for players, All you can ever do is create an environment where players will feel they can improve and develop, and enjoy their football. But I also recognise players may well look beyond Leicester City. But, I’ve never felt that with Ben. He’s a huge talent and for me he can be one of the world’s best left-backs. He’s understanding here what it takes every single day, not just on a game day, and what it takes to be an elite player in terms of lifestyle and professionalism. I can only see him getting better. He can get that here at Leicester, of course. I think he’s shown that, particularly this season. I can say that but of course players and agents may well have other ambitions for players. That’s not something you can always control. Like with the Harry situation last summer, we had really open communication, he knew what we were creating here, he knew the work that we were doing, but of course he’s got the lure to go to one of the biggest clubs in the world. He decided he wanted to go and the club rightly made that sale so they could get the money that they want. But at this moment in time it’s not even something with Ben that we’re considering. We still want to finish the season strongly and he is very committed and focused on doing that. Then we’ll see what the summer brings but here at the club we’re all relaxed about it.”
