Enzo Maresca & Chelsea eyeing Leicester City transfer as EFL looms | OneFootball

It has been reported that Premier League giants have an interest in Leicester City's 21-year-old centre-back Ben Nelson.

As Leicester City prepare for a return to the Championship this season, the Foxes will naturally be in for a busy summer transfer window, and it has now been reported that Chelsea are interested in signing centre-back Ben Nelson.

Leicester face fellow relegated side Ipswich Town in their final home game of the season at the King Power Stadium this weekend, where they will say goodbye to club legend Jamie Vardy, who is due to make his 500th and final appearance for the club, with the former England international not expected to play on the final day of the season before his departure from the club this summer.

The managerial situation is also up in the air with Ruud van Nistelrooy likely to depart and former Burnley and Everton boss Sean Dyche reportedly being lined up.

One man that is of a lower profile to both Van Nistelrooy and Vardy, both generally and at the club, but could also be bidding farewell to the King Power this summer, is Nelson.

Chelsea in for Nelson

According to John Percy of The Telegraph, Premier League giants Chelsea are taking an interest in 21-year-old centre-back Nelson, who has spent the 2024/25 season on loan at Championship side Oxford United.

It has been reported that Blues boss Enzo Maresca is a ‘huge admirer’ of the defender, who made eight appearances for the Foxes under the management of Maresca last season, including five league games as they won the second-tier title.

Nelson signed a contract with the Foxes back in December 2023, during Maresca’s stint in charge, which sees him contracted to the club until the summer of 2027 and any Chelsea move would therefore require a fee.

Nelson began the season strongly with Oxford before an injury saw him miss a lot of the campaign before his return off the bench in a 2-1 defeat to Hull City back in mid-March.

He then returned to the starting line-up for Gary Rowett’s side and was a key man as they kept four clean sheets in a span of eight matches as they managed to steer clear of the bottom three and the relegation zone in the Championship.

Destined to start at Leicester

If Nelson was to stay at Leicester, then it would seem almost inevitable that he would be a key starting cog in the Foxes’ defence, regardless of who is in charge, as they bid for an immediate return to the top-flight.

Experienced defender Conor Coady remains contracted to the club but wasn’t even a guaranteed starter a couple of seasons ago, whilst the likes of Caleb Okoli, who joined last year, and Wout Faes, have been attracting interest from elsewhere.

Jannik Vestergaard is another player at Van Nistelrooy's disposal, but he's not been used even during a centre-back shortage. He is under contract for the Championship though.

The England U20 international Nelson, who also represented Scotland at U16 level, is extremely highly-rated and his possible departure, despite not being in their squad this season, would surely be seen as a major blow to the 2015/16 Premier League title winners.