Chelsea complete £75m Wesley Fofana signing on seven-year deal from Leicester

Fofana joins Kalidou Koulibaly and Marc Cucurella in strengthening Chelsea’s defence this summer

Chelsea have completed the signing of defender Wesley Fofana on a seven-year deal from Leicester set to cost up to £75m.

The 21-year-old French centre back, described as “one of Europe’s most exciting talents” by Chelsea owner Todd Boehly, will move for a guaranteed fee of £70m with Leicester holding out for a further £5m in add-ons.

Fofana has been absent from Leicester’s last two Premier League matches as he attempted to force through the move, after the Foxes turned down Chelsea’s initial approaches.

The transfer has been completed ahead of Chelsea’s fixture against West Ham on Saturday and Fofana is in line to make his debut after training with his new team-mates on Wedensday.

“The two last days have been really big days for me and I’m very happy,” Fofana told Chelsea’s official website. “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.”

Fofana made an impression as one of the Premier League’s most promising central defenders after arriving at Leicester from St-Etienne in 2020 and was part of the team that beat Chelsea in the FA Cup final in 2021.

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Fofana suffered a serious knee injury early into his second season at the club and although he recovered to play a part late on in Leicester’s campaign, the 21-year-old underwent an extensive medical in the United States before signing what Chelsea have reported as a seven-year contract.

Fofana joins Kalidou Koulibaly and Marc Cucurella in strengthening Chelsea’s defence this summer - following the exits of Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen - and becomes the biggest signing of the Boehly era.

Leicester reportedly wanted a world record fee for a defender, eclipsing the £80m sum Manchester United paid for Harry Maguire in 2019, but the club agreed terms for a guaranteed fee of around £70m with just days remaining before the window closes.

“Wesley is a hugely promising defender who has already proven his quality in the Premier League at a young age,” Boehly said. “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.”

Chelsea have also signed Raheem Sterling and Carney Chuckwuemeka this summer and continue to be linked with a move for Barcelona forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. The signing of Fofana takes their spending this summer to close to £250m.