Leicester City’s Wesley Fofana hands in transfer request
By Will Kennedy
It’s the news that every Leicester City fan has been fearing: Wesley Fofana has handed in a transfer request as he pushes for a move to Chelsea. The 21-year-old has been the subject of a transfer saga for weeks now, but his latest move will truly test Leicester’s resilience.
After losing Antonio Rüdiger and Andreas Christensen to Real Madrid and Barcelona respectively, and with Thiago Silva not growing any younger, Chelsea have made it their priority to sign a new centre back to future-proof their defence. Kalidou Koulibaly was signed from Napoli earlier in the window, but there is still a gap to fill. Initially the Blues wanted Jules Kounde – another outstanding young Frenchman – but lost out to Barcelona. Since then, their attention has been firmly set on Fofana.
Initially, the Foxes’ position looked strong. Fofana was acting professionally, and the club were firm on their stance; he was going nowhere. However, as the window has progressed, it has become increasingly obvious that Leicester need to trim their squad in order to sign new players – this has buoyed Chelsea’s approach.
They first tested Leicester with a bid of around £40m; it was immediately rejected with the City insisting he was not for sale. The second bid was higher – roughly £60m – but, again, was rejected with the same message. This stance, however, has since changed. The Foxes don’t want to sell Fofana, but if a bid of £85m came in, they might just accept it. A third bid has yet to be received, but Chelsea know the asking price.
Fofana has felt that Leicester’s asking price is too high and that Chelsea are being priced out of the deal. In fairness, this is exactly what they are attempting to do and they have every right to. Having signed a new 5-year-deal in 2022, the power is firmly in LCFC’s hands when it comes to negotiations.
In light of this, and with no other options left, Fofana has tried to gain some more leverage in the saga and – as per Jacob Steinberg in The Guardian – on Tuesday he handed in a transfer request in order to put some more pressure on both clubs.