Rodgers explains Fofana and Tielemans exclusions
Leicester City’s rough start to the season only worsened as they suffered a home defeat to Southampton. Things were looking promising for the foxes as James Maddison scored a sensational free kick in the 54’ minute. However, the team managed to bottle it – again. Che Adams would go on to score a brace and Leicester would go on to lose the game 2-1.
Brendan Rodgers made some noticeable changes to the starting eleven heading into the game. The most noticeable changes were the exclusions of key players Wesley Fofana and Youri Tielemans. When asked about the exclusions, Rodgers commented that the players weren’t in the right frame of mind. More specifically, he said the following.
"“One, a change in the system, and two, I mentioned in the week, we’re coming into a Premier League game and maybe we’ve got players who are maybe not quite in the right frame of mind,” Rodgers said. “You can’t carry them, or certainly we can’t. So yeah, that’s the reason for the changes.”"
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These changes also come following transfer rumors floating around the two. Fofana has been linked to Chelsea for the past couple of weeks. The Frenchmen and Chelsea have agreed to personal terms. However, Chelsea and Leicester have struggled to agree on a fee. The Foxes want Chelsea to pay over the world record fee for a defender. Chelsea isn’t looking to bid that high.
Tielemans has one year remaining on his contract and it looks unlikely that he’ll sign an extension with Leicester City. The Belgian midfielder has been linked with Arsenal for what seems like the whole summer. It is still unclear if Arsenal will submit an official bid for the player.
Fofana has spent the past three seasons with the Foxes and Tielemans has spent six seasons. Both players were set to be major parts of the team heading into the season.
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Now heading towards the end of the summer transfer window, it is not unlikely both players will be on the team come to the end of the window. It is also unclear if Rodgers and the crew have any transfer replacements in mind or if they plan to go the rest of the season with the same team.