Ben Chilwell aiming for Chelsea FC legend status like Ashley Cole after gaining Thomas Tuchel trust

Ben Chilwell wants to become a Chelsea legend – just like his idol Ashley Cole – and is targeting a Champions League and FA Cup double to get his Stamford Bridge career off to an unforgettable start.

The England international was a £50million signing from Leicester last summer and will go some way to repaying that fee straight away if can help lead Thomas Tuchel’s side to silverware in his first season at the club.

He revealed he immediately set himself the target of following in the footsteps of one of Chelsea’s finest defenders in Cole, who won eight major trophies at the club, including the Premier League and the Champions League.

Chilwell said: “When I first came here I was keen to meet him [Cole] so I could pick his brains.

“He was pretty similar - he came at a young age and ended up becoming a Chelsea legend. If I can try to replicate the career he’s had here, I will be pretty happy.

“We hopefully want to win a trophy or two this season.”

Chelsea face FC Porto in the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final tie on Tuesday night, leading 2-0 on aggregate.

Chilwell’s late strike in last week’s first leg put them within touching distance of the semis, where they would face either Real Madrid or Liverpool.

The left-back has had to fight his way into Tuchel’s plans after being pushed down the pecking order by Marcos Alonso when the new Chelsea manager took charge in January.

He believes that has only helped him grow as a player – and improves Chelsea’s chances of silverware.

“When the manager came in it was a clean slate for everyone,” Chilwell said. “You can look at it two ways. I didn’t play the first three or four games, which could have got me down. But I used it as an opportunity to work harder, to ask him questions in training, to ask where he thinks I could improve my game to get me more match time.

“When I get the opportunity to play, I want to prove to him that I should be playing more regularly and I’m sure the other players, Marcos included, are doing the same thing.

Ben Chilwell is hoping to claim major silverware in his first Chelsea season
The FA via Getty Images

“It is very healthy, especially at the stage of the season we are at, with quarter-finals, semi-finals of the Cup, the league positioning, wanting to finish in the top four, I think it is very important that we have everyone in the squad challenging each other for 11 shirts and training hard and playing hard because they want to be staying in the team.

“I think it is very important that we’ve got that now at this crucial point of the season.”

He added: “I would say I am a different player (under Tuchel). Playing left wing-back is something I wasn’t used to before. Since the manager has come in it is the position that me and Marcos are playing so I am different player.

“I am really trying to improve my game in that sense at left wing-back. And asking the manager a lot of questions of what he thinks I can do to improve my game and I feel like am definitely improving.”

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