Leicester City defender Wesley Fofana on Chelsea’s radar

Chelsea are preparing an offer for Leicester City centre-back Wesley Fofana after missing out on Sevilla’s Jules Kounde to Barcelona.

The Blues had agreed a £55m fee with Sevilla for Jules Kounde but Barcelona hijacked the deal in the 11th hour. The Catalan giants are closing in on the Frenchman’s signing, leaving Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel frustrated.

Tuchel has wanted three new centre-backs to be brought in this summer following the exits of Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen on free transfers to Real Madrid and Barcelona respectively. The west Londoners have signed Kalidou Koulibaly from Napoli, but a lot of work still needs to be done to plug the gaps in Tuchel’s defensive unit.

Having failed to land Matthijs de Ligt and Nathan Ake, whilst potentially missing out on Kounde to Barcelona, Chelsea have reportedly switched their attention to Wesley Fofana.

Fofana, 21, joined Leicester City from Saint-Etienne in 2020 and enjoyed a brilliant debut season, winning the Foxes’ young player of the year award. The former France Under-21 international suffered a broken leg in a pre-season match against Villarreal a year ago but returned to action in March and made 12 appearances at the back end of last campaign. He signed a new five-year contract with the Foxes in March, which further showed the club’s faith in him after recovering from a horrible leg injury.

Wesley Fofana has a huge ceiling

Prior to his nasty leg break, Wesley Fofana had become a mainstay in the Leicester City backline alongside Jonny Evans and Caglar Soyuncu. The 21-year-old adapted to the demands of Premier League football like a duck to water and dished out a series of impressive displays, helping the Foxes achieve Europa League football at the end of 2020/21 campaign.

The Frenchman returned to action in March and added a much-needed solidity to the Leicester defence that had looked vulnerable throughout the first half of the season. With him in defence, Brendan Rodgers’ side looked a bit more organised and disciplined, even though they ended up finishing outside of the European spots.

Long story short, Fofana is a defender with a calm head on young shoulders, mature and always competitive. These are signs of a player that can achieve great things in his career, provided he keeps his fitness and focus intact.

A good fit for Chelsea?

Chelsea are desperate for more defensive reinforcements to offset the departures of Rudiger and Christensen. On top of that, there are chances of Cesar Azpilicueta departing the club with the veteran defender linked with a move to Barcelona.

With just over a month remaining for the transfer window to slam shut, Tuchel should aim to get in the players he wants to challenge Liverpool and Manchester City for the league title. And a player like Wesley Fofana fits the bill perfectly.

At 21, Fofana has a long way to go in his career and can learn a lot working with Thiago Silva and Kalidou Koulibaly if a move to Chelsea goes through. The defender has huge potential and can unlock under the watchful guidance of Tuchel.

However, the young Frenchman signing a new five-year contract at the King Power Stadium in spring has put Leicester City in a strong bargaining position. Thus, Chelsea may need to break the bank to bring Fofana to Stamford Bridge this summer.