Chelsea have confirmed their sixth first team signing with the arrival of Wesley Fofana from Leicester City.
football.london understands Fofana's move is worth an initial £70million, but could eventually be over £80million should the add-ons be achieved which would be a world record fee for a defender. The Blues held a long-term interest in the French defender and have finally got their man after weeks of negotiations.
Chelsea have already secured deals for Kalidou Koulibaly, Marc Cucurella, Raheem Sterling, Gabriel Slonina and Carney Chukwuemeka this summer, but another defender has been a priority for the west Londoners. After missing out on Nathan Ake and Jules Kounde co-owner Todd Boehly decided to do all he could to sign the 21-year-old from Leicester, strengthening Thomas Tuchel's defensive options after a tricky start to the season.
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Fofana will be available for selection ahead of Chelsea's match against West Ham United and could make his debut at Stamford Bridge. With that in mind, football.london takes a look at three possible ways the Blues could line-up with the 21-year-old defender in Tuchel's team ahead of the game against the Hammers.
Tuchel's preference
Thomas Tuchel has had to alter his favoured five-back formation at times already this season, switching to a four-man defence in the 2-1 loss against Southampton this week. The departures of Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen left the defence a little light heading into the 2022/23 campaign, but the arrival of Koulibaly and now Fofana will see the Blues return to strength at the back.
Should Tuchel look to slot Fofana into his favoured formation with three central defenders, the Frenchman would likely partner Koulibaly and Thiago Silva, allowing Reece James to return to his natural position as a right wing-back.
Line-up: Mendy; James, Koulibaly, T. Silva, Fofana, Cucurella; Gallagher, Jorginho; Sterling, Havertz, Mount.
Thiago Silva dropped
Fofana has played in a four-man defence before with Leicester and proved he can excel due to his physical attributes. Thiago Silva struggled alongside Koulibaly against the Saints and looks more settled with a teammate either side of him, allowing the Brazilian to dictate the play from the back.
If Tuchel needs to switch to a four-man defence again, the Chelsea boss may look to utilise Fofana alongside the Senegalese centre-back and drop Silva to the bench. This would only occur as a last resort with the veteran defender having been a standout performer since making the move to Stamford Bridge, but Fofana's arrival gives Tuchel flexibility with his defensive options.
Line-up: Mendy; James, Koulibaly, Fofana, Cucurella; Loftus-Cheek, Gallagher, Jorginho; Sterling, Havertz, Mount.
Future defence
At just 21-years-old, Fofana is very much a signing for the future as well as the here and now. He will need time to adapt into Tuchel's system, but his talent is unquestionable with Gary Lineker having labelled the Frenchman 'the most prodigiously talented young central defender in the world'.
Chelsea still have Levi Colwill to return to the club next summer following his loan spell with Brighton, and the club have decided against allowing Trevoh Chalobah to leave on-loan with the youngster set to play a part this season. Chalobah has played as the central defender in a back-three before and could replace Thiago Silva should he continue to develop and improve his level of performance.
The Blues have focused on signing players for the future as shown with the arrivals of Omari Hutchinson, Cesare Casadei, Chukwuemeka and Slonina, and Fofana could well fit into that category as well. Therefore, it would not be a surprise to see Chalobah come into the defence in the coming seasons and start alongside Fofana and Koulibaly as Thiago Silva comes to the end of his career, or if Tuchel decides to rest the Brazilian throughout the season.
Line-up: Mendy; James, Koulibaly, Chalobah, Fofana Cucurella; Gallagher, Jorginho; Sterling, Havertz, Mount.
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