Leicester City defender Wesley Fofana has signed a seven-year deal with Chelsea for £70m plus add-ons.
Fofana is the third defender to join Thomas Tuchel’s defence, following the arrivals of Kalidou Koulibaly from Napoli and Marc Cucurella from Brighton.
The France Under-21 international made 37 Premier League appearances for Leicester since joining from Saint-Etienne in 2020.
“The last two 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,” he said after completing his deal.
“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,” he added.
Fofana was named as the Leicester 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.
During his unveiling Chelsea chairman Todd Boehly 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.”
Behdad Eghbali and José E. Feliciano, co-controlling owners, said: “We continue to build for success and a bright long-term future for Chelsea, and Wesley fits our vision perfectly. He is a player who can make an impact on the squad immediately, while at his age he will only improve further going forward. We are excited to see what he can achieve at Chelsea.”
