On Saturday (4 p.m.) Chelsea and Leicester City meet in the Premier League and should clarify the last details for the most expensive change of a central defender in football history on the sidelines of the game. According to media reports, there has been a breakthrough in the week-long transfer poker between the two clubs, which is about the future of Wesley Fofana (21).
What first “RMC Sports” and shortly after “The Athletic” and Fabrizio Romano reported, Transfermarkt can confirm: The “Foxes”, who recently insisted on around 95 million euros, have agreed with the “Blues” on a transfer fee of 88 million euros. This makes Fofana the most expensive central defender in history, overtaking Harry Maguire (29), for whom Manchester United paid €87m in 2019 – also to Leicester.
Will Fofana soon trump Maguire? Most expensive central defenders in history
22 Shkodran Mustafi | From Valencia to Arsenal in 2016 for €41m
Unlike the deal three years ago, the transfer this year is going through with some background noise. Fofana was only banished to the U23s by coach Brandon Rodgers during the week. “If you don’t have the right attitude, we have to move on. The window will close soon and things will be a lot clearer then,” the 49-year-old said on Thursday. Everything was “totally different” with Maguire, “in terms of behavior and his focus on the club, it was fantastic until the last minute,” said Rodgers.
Nevertheless, Leicester can now look forward to a huge transfer plus. In the summer of 2020, the 2016 English champions paid AS Saint-Étienne €35m, two years later Fofana went for more than double that. And this despite the fact that the Frenchman missed large parts of the past season with a broken fibula and only made his comeback in April of this year.
Leicester: Fofana ahead of Chelsea move – Blues chase record spending
Chelsea are extending their lead in terms of transfer spending with the acquisition of Fofana, who is already the third new signing for more than €50m this summer (to the overview of all clubs). With then around 290 million euros, the “Blues” are approaching the record set by Real Madrid, which took a total of 325.5 million euros in 2019.
Highest transfer spend in a summer: PSG, Real & Barça represented twice
We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.
