Real Madrid have reportedly identified Wesley Fofana as a replacement for Raphael Varane but will have to shell out €80 million for the Leicester City ace.
According to French journalist Fabrice Hawkins, Real Madrid have narrowed in on Leicester City defender Wesley Fofana as the candidate to replace Raphael Varane. However, the Foxes have slapped a price tag of €80 million on the young Frenchman.
A product of the Saint-Etienne youth academy, Fofana only joined Leicester City last year but quickly became a regular in the starting XI for Brendan Rodgers. Indeed, the 20-year-old emerged as one of the best signings of the last season, as he helped the Foxes to a fifth-place finish in the Premier League and the FA Cup triumph.
Fofana featured 38 times in all competitions for Leicester in the 2020/21 season and seems to have done more than enough to turn the heads of some of the biggest clubs in the game. Indeed, Manchester United have been linked with a move for the 20-year-old Frenchman in the recent past, while Real Madrid have also had their eyes on him for a while now.
The interest from Real Madrid should not come as a surprise as manager Carlo Ancelotti scours the transfer market for a new centre-back. The Merengues have already lost former captain and club icon Sergio Ramos to Paris Saint-Germain and will soon see Raphael Varane bid adieu as well, with the Frenchman’s move to Manchester United imminent.
While David Alaba has arrived on a free transfer from Bayern Munich, Real Madrid still need another centre-back considering as they have just Eder Militao and Nacho as the other senior options at the heart of the defence. This has resulted in links to several names in the past few weeks, but Fofana seems to have been identified as the right candidate.
Indeed, as per Fabrice Hawkins, Real Madrid have already been in talks with the representatives of the French Under-21 international for quite some time now. However, they are yet to make an offer for the 20-year-old as they continue to monitor the situation surrounding their priority target, PSG’s superstar attacker Kylian Mbappe, before making any major moves in the market.
Leicester City, for their part, have slapped a massive €80 million price tag on Fofana. Considering that the defender is contracted with the Foxes until the summer of 2025, they are in no hurry to sell. The Premier League outfit have previously shown that they will hold out for premium fees for their star players, as was witnessed in Harry Maguire’s transfer to Manchester United.
It now remains to be seen if Real Madrid do press ahead with their interest in Fofana or look elsewhere. Although, given their financial situation, the latter seems to be the likelier scenario.