Why Chelsea spend’s £70m on Leicester central defender, Wesley Fofana

The most costly addition to Chelsea roster this summer may be the “most prodigiously talented young central defender in the world,” according to one report.

After hearing that a deal had been reached, former Foxes striker Gary Lineker tweeted, “Gutted to lose him but wish Wesley Fofana well.” “It makes sense because every player wants to play Champions League football.

“Chelsea supporters, you now possess the world’s most prodigiously brilliant young center defender. I do think he’s that good, yes.

So what is it about Fofana that has persuaded Chelsea to spend a significant amount of money on a young star who has only made 37 Premier League appearances?

After taking over as Blues manager in January of last year, Thomas Tuchel’s defense quickly established itself as one of the league’s best, allowing only 17 goals in his first 30 Premier League contests.

However, they have conceded 35 goals more than that in the subsequent 31 league games, thus Tuchel had to redesign his backline this summer.

According to former Blues winger Pat Nevin, Chelsea needed a center-back and would not be competitive without one. Nevin made this statement on BBC Radio 5 Live.

“Fofana is an excellent response. Although Chelsea needed to add, his price tag has likely increased by £10 million.”

Chelsea needed defensive reinforcements after Antonio Rudiger left for Real Madrid and Andreas Christensen joined Barcelona, but they were unable to make any purchases until a group led by Todd Boehly finished its takeover.

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Rob Green, a former goalkeeper for Chelsea, says that as the deadline draws near, a lack of planning has put them “over a barrel.”

Following Marc Cucurella’s £60 million transfer from Brighton earlier this month, Fofana would follow the Spaniard through the door.

Green told 5 Live that “they are playing catch-up and have to pay the money.” “They will acquire a superb player. He checks all the boxes right away and is also a member of the future.”

Reece James has played as a right-sided center-back for Chelsea in two of their first four Premier League games. According to Green, the new signing of Fofana would allow Tuchel to keep James in his more natural position.

Green continued, “Reece James’ quality is on the ball. As James can go forward, Fofana “ticks a box for the center-half position but also strengthens elsewhere.”

Fofana joined Leicester in a deal valued up to £36.5 million two years ago, which was a big investment for someone with only 30 senior appearances for Saint-Etienne.

However, he made an impression, playing 38 times in his first season before being chosen by the club’s supporters as the Young Player of the Season.

If it weren’t for a broken leg suffered in the preseason that kept him out until March, he undoubtedly would have played a significant role in Brendan Rodgers’ team last season as well.

At the King Power Stadium in the same month, the France Under-21 international signed a brand-new five-year contract.

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Although he participated in Leicester’s first two league games this season, he was benched for the next two and hasn’t recently trained with the first team.

Rodgers stated earlier this month, “I understand there’s a lot going on behind the scenes. “He’s having a hard time right now. He’s a decent child. For us, he’s been fantastic.”

Leicester has won 43.2% of the league games he has played in since his debut, compared to 38.5% of those without him. When he isn’t on the field, they give up 1.6 goals per game as opposed to 1.4 when he is.

Wesley Fofana is one of the guys Leicester have been so adept at finding in recent years, according to Simon Stone of BBC Sport.

“Undoubtedly, a fee of up to £36 million for a 19-year-old showed the Foxes were aware of Fofana’s potential as a talent.

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