Chelsea are prepared to make a third bid for Leicester centre-back Wesley Fofana which 90min understands will be worth up to £80m.
The Foxes have rebuffed two offers of £60m and £70m already in the hope of landing a fee similar to the £85m Manchester United paid to make Harry Maguire the most expensive defender in history in 2019.
Chelsea are reluctant to go that high and have considered other options, including Maguire himself, but no progress has been made in talks with United and so the Blues are back focusing on their primary target.
An £80m bid is expected to arrive on Leicester’s desk in the near future and Fofana is hopeful that an agreement will be reached soon. He continues to push for an exit, with one source telling 90min that the centre-back missed a training session last week before he was dropped from the squad for Leicester’s 2-1 defeat to Southampton.
Personal terms have already been agreed between Chelsea and Fofana, who hopes that this third bid will be enough to secure his dream move to Stamford Bridge.
“I know football and how it works,” manager Brendan Rodgers said of Fofana’s situation after the Southampton defeat. “It’s an amazing profession. “It’s a business for clubs, for players it’s a dream. They’re trying to fulfil their dreams.
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“So I understand it for both, it’s why I provide the bridge in terms of trying to advise him what’s the best way to behave. That’s why I have always spoken so well of Harry Maguire, because of how he was when he was here at the time when he went for a world-record fee for a defender.
“I’ve been in these situations before so you manage it how you see fit and my experience helps in these moments.”
Asked how Fofana would react if he failed to leave the club before the end of the transfer window, Rodgers admitted every player responds differently.
“I’m not sure,” he confessed. “It all depends on the player. You can’t always say for definite how it’s going to be.
“For some players when the window shuts it’s a good moment because they can totally focus on playing again and getting on with their careers. Some players may feel they have lost the opportunity of a dream. They may just never be the same so that’s always the danger.”
