Chilwell looking to claim Nations League glory with England when they face the Netherlands on Thursday night, live on Sky Sports
Tuesday 4 June 2019 07:52, UK
Ben Chilwell has revealed what Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola said to him last month but insists he is focused on Leicester amid reported interest from the Premier League champions.
The 22-year-old has been heavily linked with a move to the Etihad this summer after an encounter on the pitch with Pep Guardiola in May.
However, Chilwell remains committed to Leicester after revealing what Guardiola said to him following the 1-0 defeat to Vincent Kompany's wonder goal.
Chilwell said: "I'm at Leicester and with Brendan [Rodgers] coming in we're all loving him being there and that's obviously where my head's at.
"It was nice for such a successful manager to say I'm a good player," he said about his chat with Guardiola.
"He [Guardiola] just said he thought I was a really talented player and he wanted me to keep playing well, getting up and down the pitch and never going away from it. That was it and then he walked off to the next person he wanted to speak to."
The speculation about Chilwell's future rises after his successful season at both club and international level after making his senior debut for England in September.
The left-back has amassed six caps for his country and has been an essential part of Gareth Southgate's quest for Nations League success as England prepare to face the Netherlands in the semi-final on Thursday.
Chilwell added: "Obviously there's a lot that comes with playing for England. There's a lot of pressure we put on ourselves because we want to do well for ourselves and obviously do well for our country.
"The only pressure at the moment is the pressure we put on ourselves to do well because we know how good the squad is.
"Personally I feel like the boys are very comfortable with each other, we know the talent in the dressing room."
Should England progress to the final, the match will be held at Porto's Estadio do Dragao where a young Chilwell played for Leicester as they were thrashed 5-0 in the Champions League.
Although the Foxes had already qualified for the knockout stages by this point, Chilwell believes this humbling experience stood him in good stead for the future.
He said: "I was 18-years-old and got on the coach afterwards and saw the amount of abuse I was getting which, at the time, was difficult.
"When you're young you search your name on Twitter to see what everyone is saying about you, it was one of those things I had to get on with. I went into training the next week and kept working hard. That's all you can do.
"It's something which probably helped me a lot. I got a lot of stick after the game as a young boy coming in and it probably taught me to be thick-skinned and not listen to stuff like that."
Follow the 2019 Nations League finals on Sky Sports
You can watch every minute of England's Nations League matches live on Sky Sports. You will also be able to follow games with our live blogs at www.skysports.com or with the Sky Sports app.
England contest the semi-final of the Nations League against Netherlands on June 6 in Guimaraes, Portugal.
