He is only 21 years old, but he continues his meteoric rise in the world of football. After two years at Leicester, Wesley Fofana leaves the Foxes to join the ranks of Chelsea, still in the Premier League. The Blues have just formalized the recruitment of the young French central defender this Wednesday, a few hours before the end of the transfer market.
“Wesley Fofana is a Chelsea player having left Leicester City today and signed a seven-year contract with the Blues. One of the Premier League’s highest-rated young players arrives to bolster Thomas Tuchel’s defense for the 2022/23 season, following the arrivals of Kalidou Koulibaly and Marc Cucurella earlier this summer.says the press release from the London team.
Welcome, Wesley! 😁#FofanaIsChelsea
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) August 31, 2022
Fofana, soon the most expensive defender in history?
This is a madness carried out by Chelsea. To attract the international Espoirs tricolor (5 caps) in its nets, the new club of Todd Boehly spent no less than 82 M€. With the bonuses included in this operation, Wesley Fofana could become the most expensive defender in the history of football (between 90 and 95 M€), and thus dethrone Harry Maguire, also sold by Leicester to Manchester United in 2019 against 87 M€.
If the talent of the native of Marseille is no longer to be proven, and that he has a significant margin of progress, the check signed by the management of the Blues seems disproportionate and confirms that the money is flowing in the Kingdom of His Majesty. The player trained at AS Saint-Étienne, who should receive 10 M€ thanks to the 20% capital gain negotiated when he left for Leicester in 2020 (35 M€), has only played 37 Premier League games. (52 in total with the Foxes, for 1 goal and 1 offering).
The authoritative and mature performances of Wesley Fofana on English lawns have in any case convinced Chelsea to break the bank for him, while the Blues continue to strengthen a sector orphaned by Antonio Rüdiger and Andreas Christensen but already joined by Kalidou Koulibaly. Victim of a fibula fracture in August 2021, the Frenchy had missed a large part of last season under the orders of Brendan Rodgers. His gradual return to competition will have been a winner. Fofana’s serious injury will only have delayed his incredible progress since leaving Ligue 1.