SOCCER

Chelsea identify alternative to Koundé

The Daily Mail reports that Chelsea have given up on Koundé and will go for Leicester’s Fofana instead. It will be the club’s third attempt to sign a centre-back after missing out on De Ligt, Nathan Aké and the Frenchman.

Jacob KupfermanAFP

Chelsea are still looking for reinforcements for Thomas Tüchel. The coach has suffered losing Christensen and Rüdiger - both players leaving when their contracts expired and fears losing César Azpilicueta and Marcos Alonso as well. Despite Kalidou Koulibaly‘s arrival from Napoli, the German coach is desperately looking to sign another defender.

After a failed bid for Matthijs De Ligt, offering Juventus a trade for Timo Werner plus cash which was rejected, Chelsea again insisted on Sevilla centre-back Jules Koundé. The Blues, who tried to sign the French defender last summer, have been close to signing his signing, but face competition from Barcelona and it seems that the Catalans are going to win the battle for Koundé.

After failed attempts for De Ligt and Koundé plus the failure in the negotiations with Manchester City for Nathan Aké, Chelsea have set their sights on a fourth central defender during this transfer window. According to the Daily Mail, Chelsea are working on signing Leicester’s Wesley Fofana, after losing faith in landing Koundé. Fofana is on a list that includes other possible targets: Kimpembe (PSG), Skriniar (Inter) and Gvardiol (RB Leipzig).

Negotiations for Fofana are not expected to be easy - nor would he come cheap. Fofana signed a new contract in March until 2027 after making his return from a fractured shin injury that kept him out for most of last season. Given his youth and somewhat marked by his inactivity, his market price is now at 40 million euros. As of the moment, Leicester have not received any firm offers for the player.

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