Chelsea target Wesley Fofana not expected to leave Leicester
Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers expects Fofana to stay with the club despite heavy interest from Chelsea
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Louise Thomas
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Leicester City boss Brendan Rodgers expects Wesley Fofana to still be at the club after the transfer window shuts.
The defender has been the subject of two bids from Chelsea but both were rejected and nothing fresh has arrived in the last 10 days.
Rodgers has insisted all along that Fofana is not for sale and does not expect to lose him in the next fortnight.
“I don’t think so far ahead, the idea is that is he is a Leicester City player, ” he said. “He is not for sale, the club have made that clear, unless anything changes on that I would expect him to be here.
“Currently at this moment there is nothing new and nothing has changed from when we last spoke.”
There were reports that the 21-year-old had asked Leicester to accept a lower fee while Rodgers has denied the player handed in a transfer request.
Asked to clear up the speculation, the boss added: “Yes, I can, he hasn’t. He’s a great kid. He’s loved by his team-mates.
“He’s a great personality. He’s still developing. He’s nowhere near the finished article.
“We’ve spoken numbers of times about the whole situation and of course a private conversation. Our communication is normal, and we just continue to prepare for the games.
“It’s a challenge for any player and for clubs around this time when the window is open, and there’s lots of speculation and lots of noise that goes on with it, and especially for a young player – 21 – all the speculation that has surrounded it.
“That’s why we’re here, to help and educate him in dealing with all these rumours. The focus is very much on the team and getting them ready for the weekend.”
Rodgers says there have been no fresh bids for any other players and without any sales he is unable to bring in any reinforcements.
Having taken one point from their opening two games, the former Liverpool and Celtic boss admits it is a testing time.
“There is no denying it, any manager will tell you it’s always a tricky period, your season has started, you’re trying to get focused, you spend summer creating this really powerful collective unit to see you through the season and then through this period there’s speculation,” he said ahead of Saturday’s visit of Southampton.
“You have to remember these are very young guys, for some of them it’s the first time they’ve experienced these situations.
“There can always be disruption but the idea is to keep the group focused. The minute the window shuts it all ends but while we’re in this period it’s challenging.
“Every manager would want to strengthen and I’m no different to the others but if we are unable to do it…concentrate on what you have.
“I have some fantastic players here, a wonderful group,. If we can keep them fit and get luck with injuries I still think we can have a really good season.”
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