Chelsea would have to break the bank for Wesley Fofana
Stuart Telford
- Updated: 27 Jul 2022 10:06 BST
- 3 min read
Chelsea's pursuit of a new centre-back could become very expensive if Leicester City's Wesley Fofana is seen as the man to shore up their defence.
Chelsea have an obvious need to reinforce things at the back this season, after losing Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen on free transfers to Real Madrid and Barcelona respectively over the summer.
While the Blues have acquired Senegal captain Kalidou Koulibaly in a €40 million deal from Napoli, coach Thomas Tuchel wants further strength in his back three which also includes a 37-year-old Thiago Silva.
While Trevoh Chalobah is promising and Reece James can tuck into a back three if needed, the former's inexperience and the latter's attacking threat from right wing-back make the need for another centre-back more pronounced.
Barcelona signed Christensen for free from Chelsea and beat the Blues to Raphinha and Koundé 😮 💰 https://t.co/UWSSY9HOFi
— Football Transfers (@Transfersdotcom) July 26, 2022
French pair Presnel Kimpembe and Jules Kounde have been targeted, but Kimpembe still has a future at Paris Saint-Germain and Kounde now looks likely to follow Raphinha in turning down Chelsea for Barcelona.
Chelsea have now turned their attentions closer to home, with Leicester centre-back Fofana now a key target. But the Blues might have to stump up far more than the €38 million he is ranked at by Football Transfers' inhouse algorithm given the circumstances.
Why Leicester can drive up Fofana's price
Firstly, Brendan Rodgers doesn't want to lose the France Under-21 international. Leicester conceded the most goals of teams in the top half of the Premier League table last season, and having Fofana back after fully recovering from his broken leg last August should help assuage that.
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Despite having the likes of Caglar Soyuncu and Jonny Evans also on the books, Leicester also extended Fofana's contract as recently as March, tying him down to a five-year deal at the King Power Stadium.
Leicester also know that the new season is just around the corner, and that Chelsea are running out of time to recruit in Fofana's position. The last time such a situation emerged they squeezed £80m/€95m out of Manchester United for Harry Maguire.
Leicester hold all the cards in Chelsea's Fofana pursuit, and the Blues had better get ready to spend big.
