Wesley Fofana joins Chelsea from Leicester City for reported £70m, signs seven-year deal at Stamford Bridge
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Published 31/08/2022 at 13:08 GMT
Chelsea's summer spending spree continues with the acquisition of Leicester defender Wesley Fofana. The France U-21 star becomes the seventh new signing for the Blues this summer, bringing their total spend to nearly £300m. The Blues had already brought in Raheem Sterling, Marc Cucurella, Carney Chukwuemeka, Kalidou Koulibaly, Cesare Casadei and goalkeeper Gabriel Slonina.
Arteta hopes Aubameyang gets 'good reception' should he return to Premier League
Wesley Fofana has joined Chelsea on a seven-year deal, the Premier League club have announced.
The 21-year-old joins the two-time European champions from Leicester City after a protracted summer-long transfer saga. The fee is said to be £70 million, with a further £5m in add-ons.
"Wesley Fofana is a Chelsea player after today completing a move from Leicester City and signing a seven-year contract with the Blues," read a statement on the club's website.
Chelsea had endured a frustrating chase for a second centre-back this summer. Having quickly sealed a deal for Senegalese defender Kalidou Koulibaly from Napoli, the Blues saw moves for Manchester City's Nathan Ake - a former Chelsea player - as well as Burnley’s James Tarkowski fall through. Chelsea had even been linked with an eyebrow-raising move for Manchester United's Harry Maguire.
Fofana becomes the seventh new signing for Chelsea this summer, the first transfer window of the post-Roman Abramovich era.
Before the arrival of the Leicester defender, the Blues had already signed Raheem Sterling, Marc Cucurella, Carney Chukwuemeka, Kalidou Koulibaly, Cesare Casadei and goalkeeper Gabriel Slonina.
The Fofana deal takes Chelsea's total transfer spend to nearly £300m. It's also notable that Fofana, Sterling, Cucurella and Chukwuemeka all come from Premier League clubs. This continues an overall trend in the transfer market of the Premier League's richest clubs looking to pick up talent from inside the league, rather than elsewhere.
Tottenham's acquisition of Richarlison and Yves Bissouma, Manchester City's signing of Kalvin Phillips, Arsenal's double deal for Oleksandr Zinchenko and Gabriel Jesus all reflect this approach.
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Arteta hopes Aubameyang gets 'good reception' should he return to Premier League
Chelsea's signing spree may not yet be over either, with persistent rumours that the Blues are working on a deal to sign Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang from Barcelona. The veteran ex-Arsenal forward is believed to be available - either on loan or permanently - as Barcelona look to cut costs following their own massive summer of transfers, while Chelsea are short on strike power.
Fofana's move represents another major transfer windfall for Leicester City. Maguire's move to Manchester United is their largest sale so far, but Riyad Mahrez to Manchester City as well as the three previous players to recently head to Stamford Bridge from Leicester - Ben Chilwell, Danny Drinkwater, and N'Golo Kante - have ensured that the Foxes continue to turn a healthy profit in the transfer market.
Fofana's former club Saint-Etienne - relegated to Ligue 2 last season and beginning this campaign with a points deduction - will receive up to €10m (£8.6m) thanks to a sell-on clause in the deal which originally took Fofana to England from France.
WHAT TO EXPECT FROM FOFANA
At 6'3' and weighing nearly 13 stone, Fofana will bring a physical presence to the Blues' backline. Averaging 2.44 interceptions and 3.22 aerial duels won per match, Fofana puts that physicality to real use.
But, being a well-rounded defender, he is also in the 93rd percentile for progressive carries, and is a high-volume dribbler. His passing has been less impressive, however that may be a product of the system in which he played for Leicester.
Having played as a defensive midfielder in his youth career, Fofana broke into Saint-Etienne's first team on the right side of a back three. As Les Verts switched to a back four the following season, Fofana kept his place on the right of the central pairing.
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