Gary Lineker and Martin Keown have agreed that Wesley Fofana should spend another season at Leicester City before penning a deal with Chelsea. The 21-year-old has been heavily linked with a move to Stamford Bridge this summer as Thomas Tuchel looks to bolster his backline following the exits of Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen.
football.london understands that the Frenchman feels as if the Foxes are trying to price him out of a move by requesting a world-record fee for his services. It's believed that Fofana has already agreed personal terms over a move to west London, but the Blues have seen two offers – with the highest being around £70million – turned down by Brendan Rodgers' side.
Chelsea are expected to submit a third bid in the region of £80million and have growing confidence that it will be accepted by their Premier League rivals. With Fofana seemingly close to an exit from the King Power, Lineker and Keown have offered the defender their advice.
READ MORE: Wesley Fofana asks to be left out of Leicester squad as Chelsea transfer talk intensifies
As quoted by the Express, Lineker tweeted: "Fear the worst but hope he finds it within himself to give @LCFC one more season. Signed a new long contract when badly injured. Another year and all the monster clubs will want you @Wesley_Fofanaa."
Singing from the same hymn sheet, Keown told talkSPORT that Leicester cannot afford to continue showing themselves as a stepping stone club should they look to secure European qualification this season. The former Arsenal defender said: "Is Leicester always a stepping stone for players within their careers, even for their manager?
"It’s not a good look, in terms of they’ve been very successful in what they’ve done and this is a sort of period of consolidation, almost, and hanging on to what they’ve got might be a victory. Clearly he [Rodgers] is going to have to sell somebody. But if that happens so late in the window who does he go and buy now if Fofana leaves for all that money?
"But the success of Fofana is down to Brendan, so there’s a little bit of loyalty here. He’s trying to keep the player calm, he doesn’t want him to overreact
"If the player says outright look I want to go that’s it, I sincerely hope he doesn’t do that. He will be a top player but I think he just needs to stay there for another year."
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