Is Joe Bryan the replacement for Ben Chilwell?: Leicester transfer rumours

Chelsea’s interest in Leicester City full-back, Ben Chilwell, hasn’t faded after the supposed £80 million price valuation, although if rumours are to be believed their aim is to get the Englishman for around £55 million.

Brendan Rodgers and the scouting network at Leicester City’s King Power Stadium haven’t kept their search for a replacement very secret, with the latest link being Fulham’s play-off saviour, Joe Bryan.

This isn’t just a reactionary Leicester City-link after a heroic performance in the play-off final: Bryan has ranked as the highest-rated left-back in the Championship for the entire season, according to WhoScored, with an average match rating of 7.15.

This is no small feat, as there’s a good variety of high-level fullbacks; Ezgjan Alioski (Leeds United), Nathan Ferguson and Keiran Gibbs (West Brom), Rico Henry (Brentford), Max Lowe (Derby County), Jay Dasilva (Bristol City), Antonee Robinson (Wigan), and Kristian Pedersen (Birmingham City).

Leading the “overall” metric for the season is very impressive, but what individual metrics has the 26-year-old shone in that would make him a good stylistic fit for the Foxes and the Premier League?

Firstly, as Bryan plays as a left-back, ordinarily inside of a back four, it’s worth understanding how he fairs defensively. It’s not the perfect way of defining him as a “defensive fullback” but tackles per 90 minutes of football is a good start. When compared to the statistic of the current Premier League left-backs, Bryan has completed the most tackles per 90, with 2.6. The caveat to this is the disparity in quality between the two leagues, but it’s still an impressive accomplishment.

Given that Bryan is being touted as a replacement for England-international, Ben Chilwell, comparing the two is important. Leicester City’s fans have become increasingly harsh on Chilwell, probably because of the impressive run of performances he showed early on in his professional career with the East Midlanders.

Undoubtedly, his recent performances prior to his injury haven’t matched those levels and his 1.6 completed tackles per 90 minutes ranks him in joint 9th place amongst Premier League left-backs, whereas Bryan comes out on top – again, his stats are from the Championship, so worth taking this with a pinch of salt.

For crossing, Bryan ranks fairly averagely this season. He completes 0.9 crosses per game, which isn’t astounding, as a comparison, Chilwell averages 0.7. This shows somewhat of a similarity, both players aren’t afraid to get into the final third, in fact 22.2% of Bryan’s touches this season have come inside this area (681).

The quality in these areas is also comparable, Chilwell has contributed to six goals this season (three goals and three assists), to Bryan’s eight contributions (one goal and seven assists). Just at a surface level, Bryan is more of a “creator” of chances in the final third, with a lot of his involvements creating good chances for Fulham this season – he’s got an average of 1.2 key passes per game (a key pass is defined as leading to or helping to lead to a good opportunity).

However, Bryan’s last campaign in the Premier League wasn’t as successful, as he was a part of the Fulham team that finished 19th in 2018/19. On a personal level, the fullback was only able to grab a single assist in 2,345 minutes of football – although, he had an xA (expected assist) of 2.6, so maybe it was the finishing that deprived him of a better tally.

If Leicester City are looking for a left-back to replace Ben Chilwell, who should be an assured starter in key games for the club, then Joe Bryan probably isn’t the man. I think the 26-year-old could have a good season in the Premier League, and even obtain a place in a mid-table side – which could be Fulham, if not maybe a Brighton or West Ham.

With a market value of £4.95 million, and the Foxes looking at receiving anything over £50 million for Chilwell, it seems like a considerable downgrade, after what’s been a step in the right direction this season.