Former Chelsea captain Franck Leboeuf has warned compatriot Wesley Fofana against signing the club, believing the Leicester City defender would be better served by staying put.
Manager Thomas Tuchel is on the lookout for new centre-backs this summer as he looks to bolster his defense following the free transfers of Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen, the former to Real Madrid and the latter to Barcelona.
They were heavily linked with a move for Matthijs de Ligt after he made his desire to leave Juventus clear, but the Dutchman ultimately opted for Bayern Munich. Jules Konde also turned down a move to Stamford Bridge and decided to join Barcelona from Sevilla.
The Blues currently have four recognized first-team centre-back options, with Senegalese international Kalidou Koulibaly signed from Napoli to support Thiago Silva, Malango Sarro and Trevoh Chalobah. But with Tuchel using his traditional 3-4-1-2 system since his arrival at Chelsea at the start of 2021 and using it to help the Blues become European and world champions, the German needs more depth in the middle.
His focus has shifted to 21-year-old Fofano in recent days, although Leicester are believed to hold a world-record £85m fee for the player they signed for £35m from Ligue 1 club St Etienne two years ago.
But World Cup winner Lebouef, who won the FA Cup twice with Chelsea during his five-year spell at the club between 1996 and 2001, believes a player may not yet be at the level needed to be at the back to break through, Tuchel said.
"It's always a gamble because you never know when the quarterback is going to line up," Leboeuf said. "It was a difficult situation with Fofana. You want to get a young player, [saying] "I think he's going to be one of the best centre-backs in the world", and now to say you have to spend £80m to get him.
'[But] the guy's not even a [France] international, he's only played for St Etienne and Leicester, he got injured last season, even though he's been absolutely amazing, it's hard to say "okay, we'll spend it."
From a player's point of view, Leboeuf says Fofana would be better off staying at Leicester.
"He has a bright future, but he knows Koulibaly just signed, Thiago Silva is there, Chalobah is still there, so where do you put him in that situation?" added Leboeuf. “Is there a rotation system? "How many games should I play?" I don't know if I want to take that bet. "[He might say]" "I will play for Leicester, it won't be for Chelsea, but at least I will play and show the world and maybe sign for a club that will give me a better place than Chelsea can afford". '
Chelsea also signed Raheem Sterling from Manchester City for £45m this summer and will open their Premier League campaign at Frank Lampard's Everton on Saturday.
