Wesley Fofana to Chelsea transfer: New bid made, Personal terms agreed, Boehly confident
Leicester City defender Wesley Fofana continues to be linked with a summer transfer to Chelsea.
Thomas Tuchel's side have seen two centre-backs leave on free transfers this summer in the
form of Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen, with former Napoli star Kalidou Koulibaly
arriving at Stamford Bridge as a replacement.
However, football.london understands that Tuchel is still keen to add additional reinforcements
to his backline.
French starlet Fofana is a player that interests the former Paris Saint Germain boss.
football.london has rounded up all the latest transfer news and rumours linking the former
Saint Etienne centre-half with a move to Stamford Bridge.
football.london understands that Chelsea have made a second offer for the 21-year-old worth
£70million.
Todd Boehly is extremely determined to land the player and has made him the number one
target for the rest of the window, says CBS's Ben Jacobs, with further bids expected even
if the current one is rejected.
The Blues are aware that Leicester wanted more than £70m in cash for the player but
fell comfortably short with their first offer which was closer to £50m plus add-ons.
Fofana, who has a contract with the Foxes until the summer of 2027, has established
himself as one of the Premier League's most talented young defenders since joining from
Ligue 1 two years ago.
As with many of Chelsea's dealings this summer, Boehly is keen to leverage transfers with
a swap deal in some capacity.
Be that via loans with buyback clauses or options to buy, permanent deals or having
two negotiations going on at once, Tuchel's desire to clear out his squad players has
already seen a handful of players offered out during talks.
Leicester originally wanted Levi Colwill but his position in the deal to bring Marc Cucurella
to Chelsea means he isn't available.
The Foxes have been more interested in Callum Hudson-Odoi, though they were prefer a permanent
deal for the player and Chelsea don't want to sell him this summer, plus, the player
would prefer to be sold rather than go on loan.
It is also believed that Ruben Loftus-Cheek has been mentioned in talks, but that hasn't
come to anything.
The latest name involved is Ethan Ampadu.
The Welsh defender hasn't been given a squad number for the new season and could look to
find a move away from Chelsea to strengthen his World Cup hopes.
Ampadu makes more sense in a move to Leicester due to his positional similarity with Fofana.
Another Premier League defender that has been linked with a move to Stamford Bridge in recent
times is Wolves star, Max Kilman.
Transfer expert Dean Jones has confirmed that the west Londoners are indeed interested in
the commanding centre-half, potentially an alternative to Fofana, considering the 21-year-old's
steep price tag.
"Speaking to Givemesport, Jones said: "There are other players that they're interested
in.
I think Max Kilman might be one of them at Wolves, so that might be one to look out for."
According to transfer guru Ignazio Genuardi via Sport Witness, Chelsea "already have an
agreement" with Fofana's representatives regarding a potential move.
Of course, they still would need to tempt Leicester into selling the young Frenchman,
something that will be no easy feat as the player is said to be unlikely to demand a
move this summer.
Former Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Jamie Redknapp has compared the young Fofana
to Premier League icons Virgil van Dijk and Rio Ferdinand in the past - high praise indeed.
Speaking about the former Saint Etienne starlet to Sky Sports earlier this year, former Reds
midfielder Redknapp said: "Fofana is one of those when you see a Rio Ferdinand coming
through, a Virgil Van Dijk, he is in that quality.
"He is a great athlete, a great footballer.
He can play for any club he wants to in the future.
He is an exceptional talent."
Leicester paid around £36.5 million to acquire Fofana back in the summer of 2020, and the
Foxes now value him at €80 million (£68.4million), according to RMC Sport.
Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers will be keen to keep hold of the Frenchman, making his
admiration for the player no secret.
"His anticipation as a defender is top – he just has an in-built brain for the game, his
reading of the game is great," Rodgers said in April of this year.
"With all due respect, he has no respect in terms of [when he is] on the field.
He defends forward, he is aggressive, and in my experience working with world-class
players, they have got great human qualities outside of the field, but when they're on
there, they're super-aggressive, and that is exactly what he is."