Wesley Fofana has impressed English football fans with his performances for Leicester City since joining the club. So it comes as no surprise that the league leaders are reportedly interested in signing him up.
According to Metro, Chelsea have now made official contact with Fofana’s representatives to discuss a potential transfer. The Blues will have to overcome tough competition from Manchester United and Real Madrid, who are also vying for the centre-back’s signature.
The Frenchman has been capturing the attention of fans since his move to The Foxes from Saint-Etienne for £26.5 million last year.
But would he be a good fit for the London club? Let’s look at the stats.
How does the Frenchman stack up?
Sadly for Leicester, the 20-year-old has been out for the entire season so far. The defender sustained a fractured fibula and medial ligament damage during a pre-season friendly.
However, by comparing his stats from last season with the stats of Thiago Silva, Andreas Christensen and Antonio Rudiger from this campaign, we will see if he’d be a good fit for the Chelsea team.
The Frenchman, on average, makes more tackles, interceptions and clearances than any of the Blues’ premier centre-backs. His energetic style of defence is evident in the statistics, and Chelsea could potentially do with some youth at the back.
However, he also gives away more fouls and gets dribbled past more regularly than any of the players whose position he’d be trying to take. Therefore, it could be argued that he isn’t ready to play for a team of Chelsea’s quality, but these issues could be simply down to inexperience.
Here’s how he compares with other Chelsea defenders (stats via WhoScored):
| Player | Apps | Mins | Tackles | Inter | Fouls | Offsides | Clearances | Drb | Blocks | Overall Rating |
| Wesley Fofana | 27 (1) | 2265 | 1.8 | 2.2 | 1.3 | 0.5 | 3.3 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 7.01 |
| Thiago Silva | 6 (2) | 646 | 1.5 | 1.6 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 3.1 | 0.4 | 1.4 | 7.47 |
| Andreas Christensen | 8 | 720 | 0.4 | 1.9 | 0.6 | 0.9 | 2.9 | 0.1 | 0.5 | 7.1 |
| Antonio Rudiger | 10 | 900 | 0.9 | 0.8 | 1.1 | 0.2 | 2 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 6.96 |
What’s next for Fofana?
Read: Chelsea legend Joe Cole picks his best England XI from the past 20 years
Fofana is in recovery and claims that he will be returning to action for Brendan Rodgers‘ side soon.
He told ActuFoot (as per Leicester Mercury): “I’m starting to see the end of the tunnel. The return is coming soon. It will be at the end of December if all goes well.”
Despite some areas for improvement in his game, the Leicester centre-back still clearly has bags of talent. It’s no surprise that the elite clubs in Europe are desperate to incorporate him into their team.
His ability to tackle and intercept is that of a player well beyond his years. Therefore, it is likely that the young defender will have a very exciting career ahead of him.
Featured Image Credit: Getty
