Chelsea have reportedly reached a ‘verbal agreement’ with Leicester City for defender Wesley Fofana, who has been pushing for a move to Stamford Bridge. The Blues have already seen three bids rejected for the Frenchman though are said to have now made a breakthrough involving a world-record fee for a central defender. The Blues have been desperate to sign another central defender this summer following the arrival of Kalidou Koulibaly from Napoli. Thomas Tuchel has also welcomed Marc Cucurella to his defensive ranks, though he is predominantly a wing-back.

After failed pursuits of Jules Kounde and Matthijs de Ligt amongst others, attention turned to Fofana – who has impressed at Leicester over the past few seasons. The Foxes have been reluctant to part ways with the 21-year-old, though RMC Sport report that a verbal agreement has now been reached. Leicester were not willing to let Fofana for a fee less than £80million, and the deal is set to be a ‘world record’ for a centre-back. The defender was hoping to secure his move to Stamford Bridge this summer after it emerged that the Blues were interested.

Fofana has not been training with the Leicester first-team recently, being moved into the under-23s squad until the saga was resolved. The player also submitted a transfer request as well as hinting about his desire to join Chelsea on social media. Tuchel, too, has been vocal about how he believes his side need several new signings through the door before the transfer window closes, and he will certainly be elated that a deal has been reached for Fofana following weeks of negotiations. The player is set to pen a six-year deal with the club.
The Blues are also edging closer to a deal for Barcelona forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, with the club keen to address their lack of a No 9 following the departures of Romelu Lukaku and Timo Werner.