Wesley Fofana has been formally named as Chelsea’s new defender after leaving Premier League opponent Leicester City. 
After initially rejecting all three of Thomas Tuchel’s offers for the center-back, Leicester has now accepted to sell him for a record sum after Brendan Rodgers stated that he wants Fofana’s future to be settled as soon as possible.
Fofana, one of the Premier League’s most well-liked young players, signed a seven-year contract with the Blues and will strengthen Thomas Tuchel’s defense in 2022–23 campaign.
On Friday night, the clubs’ prolonged negotiations for the center-back, who has long been a goal for the Blues, made progress.
Football411 gathered that Leicester and Chelsea have agreed to pay £70 million for Fofana, with potential add-ons raising the price to or exceeding the £80 million Manchester United spent for Harry Maguire in 2019—a record sum for a defender.
The Frenchman, 21, has played 52 times since joining Leicester from St. Etienne in October 2020. However, due to speculation about his future, he did not play against Southampton last weekend.
Prior to the Foxes’ 2-1 defeat at Chelsea on Saturday, Rodgers claimed that the Frenchman was not mentally prepared to join the team. However, it is now obvious that they were simply making sure he was fully ready to seal the deal.
Fofana has been training with Leicester’s under-23 squad since announcing his desire to sign with the London club before the transfer market closes on Thursday.
“The two last days have been really big days for me and I’m very happy. I trained this morning with the team and it’s a dream for me. I’m very excited to start playing games for the fans and the club. I’m here to win trophies – the Champions League, Premier League, FA Cup, Carabao Cup, everything. I came here to win and the club is built to win trophies so I’m here to continue that.” – the defender said.