Leicester City to hand Arsenal and Liverpool target Ben Chilwell a new contract

Leicester City are set to hand 19-year-old full-back Ben Chilwell a new contract, offering a significant raise from his current £800 ($1162) a week salary. The youngster has made only two appearances for the Foxes, most recently in their 2-2 draw with Tottenham Hotspur in the third round of the FA Cup.

The Telegraph reports that the decision has been made in the light of interest from Liverpool and Arsenal, with the Gunners making a 3.5m ($5m) bid for the player last summer. Jurgen Klopp is also looking to strengthen his full-back position and has stepped up interest in the defender, with a bid likely to be made in the next few days. Arsenal are also expected to return with a better offer for the player but manager Claudio Ranieri has stressed that these youngsters form an important part of his vision to take the club forward.

"We are building and looking for good, talented young players. For this reason Ben Chilwell and Demarai Gray are with us and this is our goal now, to build with talented young players," Ranieri said. "Ben is our future and he stays with us. He had a very great match against Spurs, he was sure and outstanding. I am very surprised with how well he played, but that is what I wanted.

"I am building a very good team with 22, 23 or 24 players and now I can rotate because there are so many matches. I said too many times this is a good club with good energy, a good strategy and our fans are very close to us."

The defender is likely to keep his place in the squad in the league encounter against Tottenham at White Hart Lane, having impressed in the FA Cup game last weekend. Chilwell is also unlikely to be sent on loan back to Huddersfield Town, where he has spent the major part of this season. He will be used as cover for Jeff Schlupp, who is currently out injured from the first team squad.