Chelsea will make a new £70 million bid to Leicester City for centre-back Wesley Fofana, according to The Times.
The player is keen on moving to west London, but Leicester are holding out for a fee of over £80m after rejecting a £60m bid from Chelsea.
The Blues are adamant about signing Fofana after missing out on other targets such as Matthijs De Ligt and Jules Kounde.
Thomas Tuchel wants to add another defender to his squad to complete the backline ahead of the new season after losing Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen.
They have signed Kalidou Koulibaly, but the German manager wants to bring in one more defender.
Leicester paid around £36m to sign Fofana from Saint-Etienne on a five-year contract in 2020 despite his lack of experience.
He renewed his contract this summer until 2027, but that has not stopped Chelsea from chasing his signature.
Fofana won Leicester’s Young Player of the Season award in his debut campaign. The Foxes reached the final of that year’s FA Cup and defeated Chelsea to lift the title. He was imperious in that game.
He suffered an injury in a pre-season tie against Villarreal before returning in the second half of last season. He continued his progression seamlessly.
It is easy to see why Tuchel wants the France Under-21 star. In the 2021/22 Premier League campaign, he won 68% of his aerial duels and 62% of his ground duels.
Remarkably, despite his robust style, Fofana did not make any errors leading to a goal in the league.
Chelsea are eager to sign Fofana and he has been showing his interest in a move via social media. It remains to be seen if Chelsea will match Leicester’s demands for him.
Leicester are the only Premier League club yet to sign at least one player this summer and reportedly need to sell players to finance incoming moves.
