When it finally emerged yesterday that Leicester City’s Wesley Fofana could now be considered a Chelsea player, Foxes fans were rightly concerned that two days would not be sufficient time to find a suitable replacement. This theory was exacerbated by the fact that the club’s newly-appointed Head of Recruitment, Martyn Glover, is not starting his work at the King Power until after the transfer window.
However, it appears the existing recruitment team has been working diligently behind the scenes to secure a solution, with Fofana’s departure having been an inevitability for the last fortnight. Wout Faes, from Stade de Reims is close to joining the East Midlands outfit, with Fabrizio Romano reporting last night that the centre back is not the only target the club has drawn up.
Faes, who made his debut for Belgium this year with a late cameo against Poland, is a product of the Anderlecht youth system, who has gone on to make 70 top flight appearances in France after moving from his home country and K.V Oostende in 2020. Detailed statistics database WhoScored suggests he is a smart and disciplined defender who avoids diving into tackles, preferring to use his body to make blocks.
Height-wise, the Belgian falls between Daniel Amartey and Jonny Evans, and Faes will be hoping to make an impact in training to displace the former who has had a wobbly start to this Premier League campaign. Compared to Amartey, the Reims man is inferior in aerial duels and pass completion in FBRef’s comprehensive analysis, but ranks highly in the top five leagues’ standings for clearances and interceptions, the latter being where the Ghanaian stacks up very poorly.
Compared to the outgoing Fofana, Faes is a different type of defender, and it’s far from unreasonable to suggest that this deal signifies a downgrade in player calibre for Brendan Rodgers’ side – this is almost guaranteed when you lose a £70million player and bring in one for less than 25 per cent of that. But what the Belgian’s arrival does provide is stability, something the Foxes fanbase have made clear is lacking at the club this summer.
Leicester City have been scarred by a five-year deal already this year, and it looks like that is length of contract Faes will sign, so this is a deal with not just the short-term in mind. Although, it is expected the the Reims man will come straight into the first team picture.
This signing brings not only stability, but competition too, with Amartey sure to be incentivised to perform well when his starting berth is in jeopardy. In terms of tactics and formations, it appears Brendan Rodgers is putting all of his eggs in the four-centrehalf system rather than a three, as a defensive line of Evans, Faes and Amartey lends itself to being left behind by pace and mobility quite easily. These three players aren’t defined by their pace, but they don’t possess much of it, which is always going to be an area opposition coaches look to exploit.
A four-back system at Leicester relies heavily on the fitness of Harvey Barnes, as without him, Rodgers had previously looked to his James Justin and Timothy Castagne to provide natural width from wing-back positions. Other than the No. 7, the Northern Irishman has only Ayoze Perez and Marc Albrighton to occupy the wide areas, both of whom lack the searing acceleration required to frighten opposition defences.
The arrival of Faes, along with the rumoured interest in Amine Harit and Jeremie Boga, signals that the manager thinks a change of tack is required. On the rare occasion that Fofana, Evans and Caglar Soyuncu were all at the top of their games, the three-back system worked well, but for now at least, the four-back system is likely to be favoured.