Blue-eyed boy: Chilwell is being monitored by the elite clubs

Arsenal hit by transfer blow as wonderkid bid rejected

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Published on:

28 Jan 2016, 2:53 pm

By Arsenal correspondent Tony Hughes | Premier League expert with experience of breaking big stories, including exclusives like this

Leicester have rejected a new bid from Arsenal for coveted defender Ben Chilwell.

Football Insider revealed on Wednesday morning that the Premier League giants had made an improved offer for the highly rated 19-year-old in an attempt to prise him from the King Power Stadium in the final days of the January window.

An Arsenal recruitment source has said

that the Gunners' bid is worth £4million including performance related add-ons.

However, Leicester insist that Chilwell, who has also attracted interest from Liverpool and Tottenham, is not for sale this month.

Leicester have opened discussions with Chilwell's representatives about extending his contract, which runs until the summer of 2017.

The Premier League leaders are ready to up the academy graduate's deal from £800-a-week to £8,000-a-week in a bid to keep him.

However, Chilwell may decide to sit tight and wait until the summer, by which time he will have just 12 months remaining on his deal and would be in a stronger position to force a move.

The England Under-20 international spent the first half of the season on loan at Huddersfield and then started both legs of Leicester's FA Cup third-round clash against Tottenham.

Arsenal are closing in on a double deal for Nigerian sensations Kelechi Nwakali and Samuel Chukwueze

Green light: Arsenal are closing in on a deal for Nigerian sensation Kelechi Nwakali

Manager Claudio Ranieri has insisted that Chilwell is not for sale and is a huge part of the club’s future.

“We are building and looking for good, talented young players," Ranieri said earlier this month. "For this reason Ben Chilwell and Demarai Gray are with us and this is our goal now, to build with talented young players.

"Ben is our future and he stays with us. He had a very great match against Spurs, he was sure and outstanding. I am very surprised with how well he played, but that is what I wanted."

In other Arsenal transfer news, the Gunners are hopeful of completing a double deal for Nigerian sensations Kelechi Nwakali and Samuel Chukwueze before the January window shuts.

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