Leicester City manager Brendan Rodgers has issued a hands-off warning to Chelsea over highly-rated centre-back Wesley Fofana.
The 21-year-old's fledgling career was disrupted by a fibula fracture in pre-season last year, but he has still established a burgeoning reputation at the King Power Stadium.
The Foxes shelled out £31.5m to prise Fofana away from Saint-Etienne in the summer of 2020, and the centre-back has since scored one goal and provided one assist in 50 matches under Rodgers.
Fofana won the FA Cup with Leicester in the 2021-22 season, and despite making just 12 appearances last term, he was rewarded with a new contract until 2027 back in March.
Leicester failed to qualify for Europe for the 2022-23 campaign, which has led to speculation surrounding the futures of several of their star performers, including Fofana.
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Chelsea are known to be in the market for defensive reinforcements this summer, and the Blues are said to be working on a deal to bring France Under-21 international Fofana to the club.
However, Leicester boss Rodgers has ruled out the prospect of his side parting ways with Fofana, although he admits that interest in the centre-back is inevitable.
"Naturally, he's a top talent. He's not for sale. He still has lots of improvements to make. He's very happy here, he really enjoys being here," Rodgers told reporters at the weekend.
"Naturally he will attract the interest of other clubs. Our job, in not signing anyone so far, is to at least keep the players we have. I know that's the intention of the club."
Furthermore, it has been claimed that Chelsea will need to stump up at least £80m in straight cash to sign Fofana, and the Blues would therefore try to drive the price down by proposing a player-plus-cash exchange.
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Thomas Tuchel has already welcomed one new defender to the club in the form of Kalidou Koulibaly but is still searching for new faces after seeing Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen depart.
The Blues were widely expected to wrap up a £55m deal for Jules Kounde, but Barcelona successfully hijacked a move for the ex-Sevilla man after Chelsea stalled.
Matthijs de Ligt also elected to make the switch to Bayern Munich, while Paris Saint-Germain's Presnel Kimpembe and Manchester City's Nathan Ake are no longer thought to be realistic targets.
With Chelsea potentially being priced out of a move for Fofana, the agent of Bayern Munich's Benjamin Pavard has allegedly offered his client's services to the West London club.
Tuchel's side are also reported to hold a strong interest in Inter Milan right-back Denzel Dumfries, with the Nerazzurri under pressure to make a couple of big sales this summer.
Ben Knapton
