Is Chilwell justifying Chelsea's decision to spend big over cheaper alternative Reguilon?

As Chelsea pushed for Ben Chilwell over the summer, there was another left-back on the Blues' radar as they sought to strength in defence. Sergio Reguilon was the cut price option for the west London outfit, but Chelsea were focused on Chilwell and Chilwell only. Manchester United courted the Spaniard, however Real Madrid's insistence of including a buy back clause put Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side off and they instead secured Alex Telles from FC Porto. In the end, Tottenham won the race for Reguilon as they strengthened at the back. 

Both players have since gone on to become fan favourites at their respective clubs, nailing down first team spots and putting in a series of solid performances since making their full debuts at the end of September. The key battle from Spurs' 1-1 Carabao Cup draw with Chelsea was between these two marauding left-backs. In this instance, not only did Reguilon win the battle, Spurs won the war, securing a spot in the next round of the Carabao Cup via the medium of penalties. 

That draw remains Reguilon's best rated performance in a Spurs shirt as he garnered a WhoScored rating of 7.89 having provided the assist for Erik Lamela's equaliser. In turn, Chilwell yielded a WhoScored rating of just 6.86 on his full debut, his second lowest in a Chelsea shirt. Since then both players have really pushed on to become key players for their respective sides as they offer an attacking threat down their side of the pitch, noted in that Chilwell has two goals and two assists in the Premier League to his name whereas Reguilon has two assists in a Spurs shirt. 

That said, for their attacking output, it's Chilwell who has outshined Reguilon. That's not to say the latter has disappointed in England - far from it - but rather the former has, statistically at least, outperformed the Spurs man. Indeed, Chilwell leads Reguilon for key passes (1.9 to 1.4), accurate crosses (1.9 to 0.6) and successful dribbles per 90 (0.7 to 0.6), though this perhaps highlights the Chelsea's man's greater importance in the final third for Frank Lampard's side. 

There is understandably plenty of onus on Chilwell to provide an additional attacking outlet down the Blues left, with those Lampard has used from the left flank - Mason Mount and Timo Werner - looking to cut infield where possible, thus opening up space for Chilwell to maximise the attacking quality to his game. And with Chelsea (58%) enjoying more possession than Spurs (52.6%) in the Premier League this season, there are more opportunities for the 23-year-old Blues defender to really utilise these strengths. 

Even at a rumoured £45m, it's proving money well spent by Chelsea for the former Leicester man, even if they could've paid less for Reguilon, who cost Spurs a reported £27m, but the downside is that Real Madrid have a buyback clause in the Spain international. 

Chelsea could have saved around £20m for Reguilon had they pursued the Real Madrid left-back, yet the stats in the early stages of the season, even if a small sample size, suggest the west London outfit are justified in spending bigger to push for Chilwell. Either way, the key battle of Chilwell against Reguilon at Stamford Bridge today promises to be one worth keeping a very close eye on as, whoever enjoys the stronger showing, is likely to play a significant role in securing success for their side.