Wesley Fofana: Leicester boss Rodgers cites Harry Maguire with clear blast at Chelsea target

Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers has declared that Harry Maguire behaved much more professionally than Wesley Fofana in angling for an exit.

The Frenchman has serious summer transfer interest from Chelsea, who are looking to beef up their back line. The Blues have already signed Kalidou Koulibaly at centre-back but want more additions.

And boss Thomas Tuchel has his sights set on France Under-21 international Fofana.

Chelsea have in fact made three bids for the Leicester star, the latest amounting to £70million. But the Foxes are standing firm.

The situation mirrors Leicester’s 2019 sale of Maguire to Manchester United. United ended up making the England international the most expensive defender in the world for £80million.

However, Rodgers has insisted that Maguire reacted to his interest from elsewhere in a much better way than Fofana has. Last week, Fofana missed a training session and has been dropped from the first-team squad.

“He won’t be available for the weekend. He has trained with our Under-21s squad,” Rodgers told a press conference ahead of Saturday’s Premier League clash – tellingly against Chelsea.

“I’m not sure [if there will be another bid]. It’s not my concentration. I can’t lose energy thinking so much about it. It’ll be between the clubs. We have to continue to work with what we have.”

Rodgers compares Maguire, Fofana situations

Asked to hark back to Maguire’s situation, Rodgers added: “No, it was totally different.

“I was aware over the course of the summer that that could happen.

“Harry in terms of his behaviour and his focus for the club, he was fantastic right until the last minute, then he moved on. It was different. Our focus is with the team.”

Leicester have made a slow start to the season, picking up only one point from their first three games.

Transfer saga could drag on

The key question surrounding Fofana is how much Chelsea are willing to pay to snap him up from Leicester.

Rodgers sees the defender as a vital cornerstone of his team, but will not let him into the side while distractions from elsewhere could affect the morale in the camp – not just Fofana’s mindset.

If he stays, it remains to be seen for how long. What’s more, Fofana would not get over the disappointment of missing out on a Chelsea move quickly.

However, Leicester must convince him that there is an exciting project ahead at the King Power Stadium.

Indeed, he is already a senior centre-back at the club at the age of 21, making him one of a number of exciting young players at Leicester.