Chilwell’s been hot addition

BEN CHILWELL has made just as big an impact on Chelsea as new Blues skipper Thiago Silva.

That’s the view of former Chelsea left-back Scott Minto, whose old side take on another of his ex-clubs, West Ham, tomorrow night.

Chilwell (above) and Silva arrived at Stamford Bridge in the summer, the England full-back joining from Leicester in a £45million switch. He hasn’t been heralded in quite the same way as central rock Thiago but, according to Minto, his all-round contribution has been just as important.

Minto (below) insisted: “Chilwell has come in and made as big an impact as Thiago Silva. Don’t get me wrong, the spine of any side is absolutely crucial cial and you put the wide players in to add that extra.

“Games aren’t necessarily won by the spine of a side but they are dominated by it, whether that’s a Pep Guardiola domination with the ball or a Jose Mourinho domination without the ball.

“But for someone like Chilwell to come in and hit the ground running is exactly what Chelsea needed. He has a great left foot, puts a great cross in, and has a great engine as well. And where he has really added to Chelsea is in the defensive side of things.

“Marcos Alonso is a good player who has performed well in a

Chelsea shirt but in the last year or so his lack of defensive capabilities has been exposed.

“Alonso is a wing-back, he’s not a full-back.

“With Chilwell, if there’s a one-on-one he can look after the winger, and when you have a full-back who can look after the job defensively but can also really do what they need to do going forward, you’re happy.

“If you want to overload the midfield and therefore have possession of the ball, you need a full-back who can do the job of a full-back AND a winger at the same time.”

Chilwell already has 12 England caps in his collection after making his international in de debut in 2018. H He made his Chelsea debut in the 6-0 League Cup thrashing of Barnsley in Sep September.

Minto reckons the relationship that Chilwell and Timo Werner have developed has been impressive.

Minto added: “A player like Werner leaves a gap. And when he does that you need a full-back who can fill that gap, whether it’s in attack or defence.

“It goes a little unnoticed that Chilwell allows Werner to come inside and bounce off Tammy Abraham – and between Werner and Abraham they have done really well.

“Most of that is down to those two – but some of it is also down to Chilwell.

“He’s the one giving Werner the licence to go inside and not just stay as a typical wide player.”