Chelsea progressing in Wesley Fofana negotiations

Chelsea are progressing with their move for Leicester City defender Wesley Fofana, 90min understands, despite Brendan Rodgers insisting the French ace is not for sale.

90min revealed last week that Chelsea had made Fofana their new top defensive target after missing out on Sevilla’s Jules Kounde, who opted to join Barcelona instead.

Sources have since confirmed that the Blues have made progress in their pursuit of Fofana, who is open to the idea of joining Chelsea if the two sides can agree a transfer fee this summer.

However, Leicester are demanding in excess of £80m for the highly rated 21-year-old, who signed a new five-year contract at the King Power Stadium back in March. Talks are ongoing as Chelsea attempt to drive that figure down.

Leicester have hit issues with the size of their squad and Financial Fair Play, meaning they do need to sell to make room – Rodgers has already suggested that goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel might be on his way out, with Nice chasing his signature.

Rodgers is insistent that he does not want to lose Fofana and he recently told BBC’s Leicester Football Forum that the defender was ‘not for sale’ – although Chelsea have not been put off by his stance, having seen Rodgers make similar comments during their pursuit of left-back Ben Chilwell.

Fofana is not the only Leicester player attracting interest. Club officials have snubbed approaches for James Maddison and Harvey Barnes, while Schmeichel and Youri Tielemans continue to be linked with exits.