Chelsea complete signing of Wesley Fofana from Leicester for £70m

MOVE COMPLETED: Wesley Fofana has joined Chelsea after a protracted transfer battle. Pic: PA

Chelsea have confirmed the signing of Wesley Fofana from Leicester on a seven-year contract. The 21-year-old central defender has moved for £70m and takes the club’s summer spend to more than £250m.

He is the third player to join for £50m or more, after Raheem Sterling and Marc Cucurella. Chelsea are also ready to commit another £75m or so to secure Josko Gvardiol from RB Leipzig on the understanding that he would finish this season with the German club and join in June.

Welcome, Wesley! 😁#FofanaIsChelsea

— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) August 31, 2022

Leicester have opened talks with Atalanta for the winger Jérémie Boga as they rush to make signings with the money received for Fofana. Leicester’s only signing has been the backup goalkeeper Alex Smithies on a free but they have lined up Reims’ Wout Faes as a replacement for Fofana at centre-back and are pushing for Boga.

Boga, a France-born Ivory Coast international, came through Chelsea’s academy but made only one Premier League appearance before joining Sassuolo and then Atalanta. He had a season in the Championship with Birmingham on loan from Chelsea and is keen to join Leicester.

Brighton are trying to sign Billy Gilmour from Chelsea in a permanent deal but may be scuppered by the London club’s list of midfield injuries. Gilmour is not in Thomas Tuchel’s plans and has been expected to depart on loan or in a longer-term move. Brighton will wait to see whether Chelsea feel they can afford to lose another midfielder.

A lack of available bodies meant Gilmour, who spent last season at Norwich, was named in a matchday squad for the first time under Tuchel when Chelsea lost at Southampton on Tuesday. N’Golo Kanté is out for several weeks and Trevoh Chalobah, who can play at the back or in midfield, was also not fit. 

To compound Tuchel’s problems Ruben Loftus-Cheek was replaced at half-time by Mateo Kovacic, who himself is short of match fitness, after picking up a hamstring injury. Conor Gallagher was absent through suspension. Although Gilmour did not come off the bench, Chelsea are reluctant to sanction a move until they are confident he will not be required in the coming weeks.

Any move to Brighton would have to be permanent because the Seagulls have one Chelsea player, the defender Levi Colwill, on loan. That has not deterred the club from trying to complete a deal and revive the career of a player who burst on to the scene under Frank Lampard in 2019-20, also impressing at international level with Scotland.

Chelsea and Gilmour have other options, with several clubs keen on a loan. Olympiakos are among those to have registered their interest.

Everton are the favourites to sign the Manchester United midfielder James Garner, who has attracted bids from four clubs, after they had an offer of about £15m accepted. The 21-year-old has had loans at Watford and Nottingham Forest. Everton are also hoping to finalise a deal to re-sign the midfielder Idrissa Gueye from Paris Saint-Germain.

Sunderland are in advanced talks with United over taking Amad Diallo on loan. The Championship club have taken the midfielder Edouard Michut on loan from PSG with an option to buy for €5m (£4.3m).

Southampton are closing on a deal to sign Ainsley Maitland-Niles from Arsenal on loan with an option to buy after reaching an agreement with Manchester City to sign the teenagers Sam Edozie and Juan Larios. City will have buy-back clauses.

Guardian