A few days ago, Chelsea completed the £62 million signing of Spanish fullback Marc Cucurella from Brighton, succeeding in their hijack of the Manchester City target. Now, there are reports making rounds that are also prepared to break the bank for Leicester City defender Wesley Fofana. Remember that Manchester United bought Harry Maguire from Leicester City for a record £80 million; now Chelsea is ready to spend much more than that hefty £80 million sum to prise their target from the same club.
Having lost Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen, with Marcos Alonso drawing closer to a deal with Barcelona, Chelsea is keen on rejuvenating their defence this summer so that they can challenge for titles. The new board, headed by the American Todd Boehly, wants to support Chelsea head coach Thomas Tuchel all through the way; and is ready to break the bank to show how willing they are. Already, they have spent a whooping £96 million on the defensive signings of Kalidou Koulibaly and Marc Cucurella this summer but are still ready to take it up a notch higher to get the French defender.
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Leicester need to sell but doesn’t want to lose Wesley Fofana
They have been eyeing Wesley Fofana since the early stages of the transfer and are convinced that they need him after their shambolic defeats in pre-season to Arsenal and Charlotte FC. But Leicester City boss Brendan Rodgers has maintained that Wesley Fofana and James Maddison are not for sale.
Leicester has its hands tied in the transfer window because of Financial Fair Play regulations, and they cannot buy any players unless they sell some of their own. The problem with selling is that the players that clubs target are some of their best players, and they cannot afford to lose them or lose them for cheap. Players like James Maddison, Wesley Fofana, Youri Tielemans, and Jamie Vardy have all been on the radar of various clubs, including Newcastle, Manchester United, Chelsea, and Arsenal.
Chelsea is prepared to break the bank for Fofana
Concerning Chelsea and Wesley Fofana, it is believed that Fofana wants to join the Blues from London but still has an enormous five years left on his current contract with Leicester City. As a result, Leicester has nothing to lose if they retain the 21-year-old. But Chelsea is keen on finding centre-back replacements for Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen. They have already gotten Kalidou Koulibaly from Napoli for £34 million and believe that Fofana is the last piece in their defensive puzzle.
Speaking in an interview, Leicester City manager Brendan Rodgers said,
Both James Maddison and Wesley Fofana are not for sale at this time. These people are among the most important on the team. Even though we have to get rid of some players, we won’t get rid of anyone, especially not our most important assets.
That said, it seems that Rodgers has shut any doors that seem open to Wesley Fofana leaving the Foxes, but Chelsea is said to be relentless in their pursuit. They have reportedly made an improved offer of £70 million before Rodgers’ interview and are ready to increase that offer by more than £10 million.
Chelsea is planning to hijack the De Jong deal
In other news, there are reports that Manchester United’s prime target for this transfer window, Frenkie De Jong, favours a move to Chelsea than Manchester United. De Jong is believed to prefer London to Manchester and coupled with the fact that Chelsea is playing in the Champions League while United are not, it seems that if he leaves Barca, Chelsea would be the next destination.
Thomas Tuchel is a big fan of De Jong and wants to find replacements for Kante and Jorginho, assuming they don’t renew their contracts next year. He believes that De Jong could be key to the team in coming years and is prepared to swoop in, in case Frenkie finally agrees to leave Barça.
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