Chelsea and Leicester City have agreed a deal for Wesley Fofana that could result in the defender becoming the world's most-expensive centre-back.
The Blues have been in talks with the Foxes over a move for the 21-year-old throughout the past month and have seen three previous offers rejected for the France Under-21 international.
football.london understands Chelsea returned with a fourth bid worth a guaranteed £70million and further add-ons that would take the transfer above the £80million that Manchester United paid for Harry Maguire in 20219. Leicester this evening accepted the offer.
READ MORE Every word Thomas Tuchel said on Chelsea vs Leicester, Fofana, Gordon, Kante, Kovacic, Conte
Fofana has done his utmost over the past 10 days to ensure a switch to Stamford Bridge would be agreed upon between the two clubs. He did not arrive for a day's training earlier this week and was sent to train with Leicester's Under-21s as a result by Brendan Rodgers.
"He’s not training with the first team," Rodgers explained. "He’s training with the Under-21s so he can get his football fitness and keep working. It’s so important at this stage to control any sort of distractions that may be there. I can only pick players who give that full commitment to play for the first team. If not, he trains with the Under-21s."
When Chelsea first registered their in Fofana, Rodgers publicly stated the centre-back was not for sale. However, that stance soon changed and Chelsea were privately given encouragement that a deal could be struck.
Leicester stood firm on their desire for a world-record fee for the defender and the Foxes are hopeful the package offered by Chelsea will eclipse the figure received for Maguire in the years ahead.
READ NEXT:
- Fofana deal, Gordon desire, Aubameyang confidence and 10 Chelsea transfers still to be completed
- Reasons for Chelsea's Thomas Tuchel receiving ban for Antonio Conte clash revealed
Ethan Ampadu set for conversation over Chelsea future with Wales boss amid transfer interest
Wesley Fofana, Marcos Alonso - Every transfer Chelsea still need to complete before deadline day