Chelsea forward David Datro Fofana has reportedly emerged as a transfer target for Strasbourg.
Ahead of 2023, the Blues announced that they had agreed to sign the Ivory Coast international on a long-term deal from Molde.
At the time, it was unclear whether the 20-year-old would go out on loan or remain as part of the first-team squad, then under Graham Potter.
Fofana ultimately remained at Stamford Bridge, yet he was limited to just 113 minutes of action in the Premier League and FA Cup across four appearances.
Chelsea have since appointed Mauricio Pochettino as their new head coach and the Argentine is allegedly keen to assess the qualities of Fofana when pre-season training starts next month.
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Nevertheless, Fofana has been frequently linked with a loan transfer away from West London, largely as an option in part-exchange deals to help bring down the cost of any financial outlay for new targets.
Sporting Lisbon were an option before Chelsea failed in their bid to sign Manuel Ugarte, but it appears that the prospect may now find himself heading to France.
According to L'Equipe, Strasbourg had already been interested in Fofana before the developments that occurred on Thursday evening.
The Ligue 1 outfit announced that they had agreed a deal with BlueCo, the consortium which bought Chelsea in May 2022, to become their new owners.
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Although the size of the stake has not been formally revealed, it has been widely claimed to be close to 100%, with Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital taking the first step into creating a multi-club model.
Like Manchester City do with Troyes and Girona, Chelsea may theoretically send prospects and fringe members of their squad to Strasbourg, who survived in France's top flight during the closing weeks of last season.
The report suggests that a loan deal between the sides is now an increasing possibility with Fofana requiring regular game time throughout next season.
As it stands, Chelsea's forward options for next season could be Christopher Nkunku, Armando Broja - providing that he suffers no setbacks in his recovery from a serious knee injury - and Nicolas Jackson, who is expected to join from Villarreal.
Darren Plant
