KEY POINTS

  • Wesley Fofana is contracted with Leicester until 2027
  • He signed a long-term deal in March
  • Chelsea are looking to strengthen their defense ahead of the 2022-23 season

Chelsea are reportedly prepared to make an offer for Leicester City defender Wesley Fofana in the summer window.

Fofana, who signed a new long-term deal with Leicester earlier this year, is now contracted with the King Power Stadium side until 2027. Head coach Brenden Rodgers has no interest in losing the young center-back and hence, Leicester have labeled Fofana with an asking price of around $84 million, Goal reported, citing a tweet from a CBS reporter.

The 21-year-old joined Leicester in the summer of 2020 and made 50 competitive appearances for the East Midlands club across two seasons.

Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel wants to sign three central defenders this summer following the departures of Antonio Rudiger, Andreas Christensen and Kurt Zouma in the last 12 months. While the Blues signed Kalidou Koulibaly from Napoli, they have so far failed to land Matthijs De Ligt and Nathan Ake. Their negotiations with Sevilla for Jules Kounde have been stalled.

Sevilla and Chelsea have agreed on a fee of $67 million for Kounde but the talks have stopped because of FC Barcelona's interest as the French defender is more inclined toward the Camp Nou side, according to 90Min.

Wesley Fofana of Saint-Etienne
Wesley Fofana of Saint-Etienne Getty Images | Jean Catuffe

Meanwhile, Barcelona are also trying to secure a deal for Chelsea skipper Cesar Azpilicueta. Since the Spanish defender has just a year left on his contract, the Catalans are not ready to match Chelsea's asking price and that has left Tuchel a "little bit" annoyed.

When reporters recently asked Tuchel if he was angry with the whole saga around Azpi's transfer, the German boss replied, "Maybe a little bit. It's a tough question because I am not sure if I want to give Azpi what he wants. At some point it is about what we want. I just made the comparison about how much we fought for Koulibaly, who is a national team player and roughly the same age."

"He is a hugely important player for Napoli but we have a Spanish international who is the captain at Chelsea. I see him maybe at the same level but Barcelona don't see him on that level. So I am not sure if I want to give him what he wants as he is a huge player," he added.

Chelsea are scheduled to begin their 2022-23 Premier League campaign with a trip to Merseyside. They will play against Everton on Aug. 6 at Goodison Park.

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