By Victor Kanayo
Chelsea on Wednesday completed and announced the signing of £70million English defender Wesley Fofana from Leicester City.
Confirming the latest development via their official website, Chelsea said the 21-year-old Fofana joined the Stamford Bridge club on a seven-year contract.
According to Chelsea, “Wesley Fofana is a Chelsea player after today completing a move from Leicester City and signing a seven-year contract with the Blues.
“One of the Premier League’s most highly rated young players, Fofana arrives to further bolster Thomas Tuchel’s defence for the 2022/23 season, following the arrivals of Kalidou Koulibaly and Marc Cucurella earlier in the summer.”
On completing his signing, Fofana said: “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.”
After impressing in his homeland France with Saint-Etienne, the 21-year-old has further underlined his credentials as one of the game’s most promising all-round defenders with his performances during two seasons in England with Leicester.
He was named as the Foxes’ Young Player of the Year in his debut campaign in the Premier League, 2020/21, with one of his best performances in England so far coming against Chelsea in that season’s FA Cup final, as Leicester won the trophy for the first time.
Although he missed part of last season through injury, he instantly picked up where he left off on his return and starred for Leicester as they reached the Europa Conference League semi-finals, their only appearance at that stage of a European competition.
Chelsea Chairman Todd Boehly on his part said: “Wesley is a hugely promising defender who has already proven his quality in the Premier League at a young age. We are delighted we were able to bring one of Europe’s most exciting talents to Chelsea and further strengthen that area of our squad, both for this season and many more to come.”
Before the arrival of the Frenchman, Chelsea had coughed out £193.1m on players.
At the moment, their spending stand at £263m following the arrival of the centre-back.
Fofana leaves Leicester with the former Premier League champions romancing the bottom of the table.
