Chelsea are weighing up a move for Leicester defender Wesley Fofana as they widen their search for a second centre back addition.
The Blues are considering testing Leicester’s resolve to hang on to their talented young centre back, with Jules Kounde increasingly likely to join Barcelona.
Fofana has now emerged as one of the latest names in Chelsea’s sights in their bid to bolster their defence after losing Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen this summer.
They have landed Kalidou Koulibaly for £34million from Napoli but have faced difficulties in securing a second defender.
Bayern Munich thwarted their attempts to buy Matthijs de Ligt from Juventus and they were frustrated in their attempts to land Manchester City’s Nathan Ake.
Paris Saint-Germain’s Presnel Kimpembe and Inter’s Milan Skriniar are among the other centre backs on Chelsea’s radar. RB Leipzig’s Josko Gvardiol is another but the Germans are determined to keep him.
Fofana joined Leicester in a deal worth £36.5m in 2020 and enjoyed a brilliant debut season, winning the Foxes’ young player of the year award. He suffered a broken leg in a pre-season friendly a year ago but returned to action in March and played 12 times in the closing stages of the campaign.
He signed a new five-year contract in March that runs until 2027, which puts Leicester in a strong bargaining position.
Meanwhile, Chelsea will consider allowing Timo Werner to leave this window but want to line up a new striker first, with Newcastle among the clubs following the German’s situation closely.
Werner’s Chelsea future is uncertain and he spoke openly about his desire to play more, particularly ahead of the World Cup this year, during the club’s pre-season tour of America.
Juventus and his former club RB Leipzig have registered interest in signing the 26-year-old this summer. However Werner’s hopes of a move, either on loan or permanently, will hinge on whether Chelsea strengthen their own forward line further following the £47.5m capture of Raheem Sterling.
That remains one of their priorities for the rest of the window along with signing at least one more centre back and another right back option.
