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Jake Stokes

Ben Chilwell delivers honest Wesley Fofana verdict after debut as Thomas Tuchel plan clear

Wesley Fofana has impressed Ben Chilwell since joining Chelsea from Leicester City. The 21-year-old, who penned a seven-year deal in west London this summer, swapped the King Power Stadium for Stamford Bridge in a deal which is said to have cost the Blues in the region of £70million.

After just two training sessions, Thomas Tuchel threw the Frenchman in the deep end and handed him his debut for Chelsea against West Ham - a feisty London derby which saw the west Londoners waltz away 2-1 victors. And, Chilwell was left impressed with how well Fofana gelled acclimatised to the squad dynamic.

Speaking to talkSPORT, the 25-year-old left-back labelled the centre-back's performance as 'brilliant' after a mature display. Chilwell said: "Massive kudos to Wes. He’s only just come in, he’s trained with us twice.

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"Then he starts today, his first game at Stamford Bridge, it was a brilliant performance by him and many more to come. To come in at such a young age and gel so quickly into the group is massive."

Chilwell continued by tipping Fofana for a 'massive future' at the club before referencing a new-found winning mentality at the club which has grown in recent weeks. The England international said: "He’s gonna have a massive future at our club.

"I think as well, all the boys that have come in have brought a mentality that they want to win. Everyone here wants to win and you need to bring in players that have that same mentality. Reaching finals and winning finals is what this club’s all about."

Speaking to football.london ahead of the clash with West Ham, Tuchel showered Fofana with praise too, pre-empting a strong performance versus the Hammers. The Chelsea boss said: "He is that kind of profile that we identified very early to replace Toni [Rudiger] and Andreas [Christensen].

"We are very happy that we stayed patient, super happy that Todd [Boehly] was relentless on it and never gave up. We managed to fulfil this transfer.

"Wesley is young, he's fast, he's very, very strong in set-pieces, defending and attacking. He was one of the very early targets to replace our guys that left the club"

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