Fofana Training with Leicester’s U23s Amid Chelsea Interest

Arsenal's Granit Xhaka, left, and Leicester City's Wesley Fofana battle for the ball during their English Premier League soccer match at the Emirates Stadium, London, Saturday, Aug. 13, 2022. (Mike Egerton/PA via AP)

Leicester defender Wesley Fofana did not turn up for training one day last week and has been working with the club’s under-23s amid interest from Chelsea in the French center back, manager Brendan Rodgers said.

Fofana was not part of the matchday squad for Leicester’s 2-1 loss to Southampton on Saturday and also missed out when the team advanced to the third round of the English League Cup with a penalty-shootout win over fourth-tier Stockport on Tuesday.

It was reported before the Stockport game that Leicester had turned down a third bid from Chelsea for Fofana, and Rodgers said after the match: “There was an offer gone in and it’s been rejected.”

Rodgers said the 21-year-old Fofana hasn’t been in the right frame of mind to play.

“He’s training with the under-23s so he can get his football fitness and keep working. It’s so important at this stage to control any sort of distractions that may be there,” Rodgers said. “He’s a good kid, it’s just been a really challenging situation for him. I’ve had it a number of times in my career where there’s players who can deal with it, cope with it, get on, want to help their teammates. There’s others that just can’t deal with with the distraction.

“Of course that distracts them and it’s not quite right, and they miss a training session, then you need the full commitment from your players. These guys get well paid. The very least you can do is turn up. And if you don’t, with all due respect, you can’t then just think you can walk into our group.”

Rodgers is hoping for a quick resolution to Fofana’s situation, one way or another.

“Of course, if it (Fofana leaving) happens, the sooner the better, because it might allow us to do some work (in the transfer window).”

August 24, 2022