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Manchester City may have to smash the world-record transfer fee for a defender if they are to bring Leicester's Ben Chilwell to the club, as reported by The Telegraph.

What's the word, then?

Well, the Foxes are under no pressure to sell, and have already proven themselves as tough negotiators as the Citizens found out in their attempts to bring Riyad Mahrez to the Etihad Stadium - City eventually landed their man, but only for a club-record £60m fee.

Pep Guardiola has reportedly become frustrated with Benjamin Mendy's fitness problems, with the French international suffering two serious knee injuries in the last two seasons - the former Monaco man has also wound the Spaniard up in the past after turning up several hours late to a treatment session.

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Chilwell has nailed down the left-back spot at the King Power Stadium, and has also become an England international, but with Leicester unwilling to sell it will perhaps take an offer in excess of the record £75m that Liverpool spent on Virgil van Dijk to lure him away from the Foxes.

A waste on money?

Quite frankly, it would be foolish for Guardiola to give up on a player who he spent £52m on just two years ago, and one who has obvious world-class talent.

Mendy has only made nine Premier League appearances this season as a result of his injury issues but has still managed to record an impressive five assists in those games, which ranks amongst the best in the league for full-backs.

Additionally, the Cityzens also have the ever-dependable Oleksandr Zinchenko in their ranks to play at left-back, a man who has caught the eye on a number of occasions this season in Mendy's absence - the Ukrainian international has four assists to his name in all competitions, and has barely put a foot wrong.

With depth such as this in the left-back department, spending such a huge sum on Chilwell would seem like a significant waste of money.